Trade and Development in an Era of Multipolarity and Reterritorialization

This essay will consider two phenomena emergent within international trade law and policy: multipolarity (the emergence of new global powers alongside existing hegemons) and reterritorialization (the rise, sometimes in quite virulent form, of economic nationalism as a basis for asserting State controls over, and barriers to, cross-border trade). These new dynamics present serious challenges and dangers. This essay will consider whether they might also create opportunities for reshaping the international economic order to be more supportive of the longstanding concerns of developing States. In doing so, the essay will elucidate key aspects of both the global political economy and the international norms and institutions that have helped to shape it