Policy Space Conflicts in Global Trade Politics

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Qinyi Xu (The University of Cambridge, UK) Chuanjing Guan (University of International Business and Economics, China)

Policy Space Conflicts in Global Trade Politics

Qinyi Xu (The University of Cambridge, UK), Chuanjing Guan (University of International Business and Economics, China)

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
30 June 2025

International relations; International economics; Political economy

Series: Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics

Policy Space Conflicts in Global Trade Politics delves into the structure, driving forces, and contemporary influencing factors of trade relations dynamics, providing insights into the present and future trajectories of the global trade order.

The post-pandemic global governance challenges combined with the concurrent, if not concomitant, escalation of economic rivalries between great powers are catalysing a weakening of the liberal international order, undermining the very foundations upon which contemporary global production network is built. Contemporaneous with the return of geopolitical tensions, the conflict over global governance vs state governance has again become the nexus where global trade politics are contested and negotiated. This book presents the Policy Space Conflict framework, an analytical framework that diverges from extant concepts of policy diffusion, power transition, socialisation and neo-liberal institutionalist models of analyses, and is instead advanced as a framework that renews the classic concept of ‘policy space’ – the space left for one to freely use preferred national policy instruments when integrated into the globalisation and institutionalisation process in the past decades. The tensions inherent in and arising from policy space can be captured in the term ‘policy space conflict’, illuminating the dynamic shifts regarding the convergence of rules under globalisation and de-convergence concerns of states. This book emphasises the underlying logic and motivating rationale that lie beneath the evolution of ‘policy space conflict’ by theoretically revisiting the concept, providing an overview of its forms in history since the Bretten Woods and transitions from market-oriented to strategy-based. This exploration is examined using case studies drawn from real-world trade politics, which encompasses discussions on the decline of multilateralism, the asymmetry in development between the Global South and North, and China-U.S. institutional contestation.

This book will be of interest to scholars in the fields of international relations, law, political economy, political science, economics and international trade as well as a broad range of audiences who are concerned of global trade politics in times of global uncertainty.

By: Qinyi Xu (The University of Cambridge UK), Chuanjing Guan (University of International Business and Economics, China)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032279329
ISBN 10: 103227932X
Series: Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 30 June 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1. Introduction 2. Chapter 2. Theorising Policy Space Conflict: A Convergence Dilemma in Global Trade Politics 3. The Evolution of Policy Space Conflicts: Power, Capital and Rules 4. The Rise and Fall of Multilateralism: Politicisation of Policy Space Conflicts in WTO 5. Asymmetries and Reconfiguration: Divergence of Policy Space Conflicts between Global North and South 6. Escalated Institutional Contestation: Policy Space Conflicts between China and the United States 7. Policy Space Conflicts in the Global Transformation Era 8. Revisiting the Border for Global and Domestic Governance: Is There a Balanced Deal?

Qinyi Xu is Assistant Professor at the School of International Studies, Peking University (PKU). She also serves as the researcher at the Institute for Carbon Neutrality at PKU and Head of Strategy and Cooperation at the PKU Analytics Lab for Global Risk Politics. Her research spans global climate governance, environmental security and economics to comparative/international political economy (trade politics and governance). Chuanjing Guan is Associate Professor at the Department of International Political Economy, University of International Business and Economics. His research interests include international political economy, global value chains and trade politics.