Since 1990 the number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has increased very rapidly. This paper aims to contribute to this literature by presenting a new database on PTAs called Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA). We identified a total of 690 negotiated trade agreements between 1945 and...

Since 1990 the number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has increased very rapidly. This paper aims to contribute to this literature by presenting a new database on PTAs called Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA). We identified a total of 690 negotiated trade agreements between 1945 and...

Since 1990 the number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has increased very rapidly. This paper aims to contribute to this literature by presenting a new database on PTAs called Design of Trade Agreements (DESTA). We identified a total of 690 negotiated trade agreements between 1945 and...

Empirical research lends support to the idea of a, "multi-speed globe," of differentiated (fragmented) constitutionalisation, rather than a fully-fledged integrative constitutional process. "Variable geometry," on the global scale could acknowledge irreconcilable differences between nation...

By nearly every measure, power in the international system is concentrated, meaning that most states lack significant power resources. And yet international relations theory tends to focus on the behavior of great powers. This special issue instead explores the strategies that “weak” states...

International tribunals rely on interpretation of legal texts as a crucial tool in adjudication. What is puzzling is the increasingly wide variation we observe in treaty interpretation by international tribunals across policy areas and over time. The international relations (IR) literature has...

States design some international institutions more flexibly than others. What explains this variation? Focusing on preferential trade agreements, we argue that different aspects of institutional design are interdependent. In particular, we posit that deep agreements create an incentive for...

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have been proliferating for the last twenty years. A large literature has studied various aspects of this phenomenon. Until very recently, this literature has treated all PTAs as equal. However, PTAs differ significantly in terms of design. In this paper, we...

Since its inception in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) includes a highly judicialized dispute settlement system that is unique in international law and politics at the multilateral level. The WTO's institutionalized processes significantly mediate power in dispute settlement. In this...