Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace?

The report examines the rapid growth of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and their dual potential to either build peace through economic interdependence or trigger conflict due to power imbalances and social dislocation. While the European Union is cited as a successful model of integration and stability, the authors argue that this trajectory is not automatic for other regions, particularly in the developing world. The document highlights that poorly designed RTAs can cement inequalities, create 'winners and losers' within domestic populations, and fail to prevent inter-state wars. It also discusses the trend of 'good governance' conditionality in North-South agreements and concludes that while isolation is dangerous, an uncritical rush toward regional integration without considering political contexts can be counterproductive.

• Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have grown rapidly, with nearly 260 notified to the WTO by early 2005, and almost every WTO member except Mongolia is engaged in one.
• RTAs are driven by both internal factors, such as seeking new markets and counterbalancing the power of other blocs, and external factors, including the 'export' of the EU's integration model to regions like Africa and the Pacific.
• The 'visionary ideal' suggests RTAs build peace by making conflict more costly, pooling resources for poorer countries, and providing non-military dispute resolution mechanisms.
• North-South trade agreements increasingly include 'good governance' conditions, such as respect for human rights and the rule of law, which can be used as leverage for unilateral trade sanctions.
• RTAs are not an automatic brake on conflict, as evidenced by border clashes between CIS members Armenia and Azerbaijan, and wars involving COMESA members in the Great Lakes region.
• Trade integration can trigger instability between countries by cementing inequalities between partners of differing wealth and influence, or by creating tensions between members and non-members due to trade diversion.
• Within countries, RTAs can cause social unrest and poverty through industrial contraction, unemployment, and the creation of wealth disparities between 'winners and losers' of liberalization.

APA

Brown, O., Shaheen, F. H., Khan, S. R., & Yusuf, M. (2005). Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_rta_conflict.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Oli, Faisal Haq Shaheen, Shaheen Rafi Khan, and Moeed Yusuf. Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_rta_conflict.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Oli |last2=Shaheen |first2=Faisal Haq |last3=Khan |first3=Shaheen Rafi |last4=Yusuf |first4=Moeed |title=Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=October 2005 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_rta_conflict.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2005regional, author = {Brown, Oli and Shaheen, Faisal Haq and Khan, Shaheen Rafi and Yusuf, Moeed}, title = {{Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2005}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_rta_conflict.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }