This book provides a thought-provoking critical analysis of the functionality of regional trade regimes in the Global South. It examines four regional trade agreements (RTAs) - the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA). Ngangjoh Hodu and Ajibo argue that while there has been immense enthusiasm amongst countries in the Global South to create RTAs, this has not translated into concerted efforts to make the RTAs work as envisaged, resulting in RTAs that are largely lacking in concreteness. In this innovative work, the authors invite international economic lawyers and other stakeholders to reflect on how normative beliefs and interests inform inter-state relations and thereby, the law of regional economic community. In so doing, it argues that the idea of prosperity underpinning RTAs as they currently exist is more of a mirage than reality.
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Provides a thought-provoking critical analysis on how to understand the functionality of regional trade regimes in the Global South.
Introduction; Part I. Prosperity in International Trade Law as a Mirage:
A Mutually constituted approach to Regional Trade Law:
1. Normative beliefs
in international trade law;
2. Globalisation and regional trade arrangements;
3. Regional trade regimes, disputes settlement and International law; Part
II. Prosperity and Specific Regional Trade Arrangements as International
Regimes:
4. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an
international regime;
5. The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement
(AfCFTA) as a legal regime;
6. Southern Common market (Mercosur) as an
international regime;
7. USMCA as a regional integration project;
8.
Achieving lasting prosperity in regional trade law: possible lessons for
future trade arrangements; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.
Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu is a Professor of International Law at the University of Manchester Law School. He has written many books and over four dozen articles and book chapters on international law with focus on international economic law and the Global South. He is regularly consulted by governments around the world, regional organisations and UN Agencies on international law issues. Collins Chikodili Ajibo (Ph.D. and LLM Manchester) holds Georg Forster Research Fellowship and Sustainable Governance Senior Fellowship. Dr Ajibo is a Reader at the University of Nigeria. He is the author of The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: Legal and Policy Frameworks (2024)
