Theoretical Framework of North-South Regional Trade Agreements

Abstract

Various theoretical formulations have been developed to understand the relations of power between the advanced and the developing countries of the world within the context of global trade. In this chapter, I adopt an eclectic theoretical framework of analysis to address the contending views on the global capitalist system in which the formation of regional trading agreements (RTAs) have been cast over the past halfcentury. The theories also underscore the importance of trade, the political underpinning of RTAs like the (European Union) EU-ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the unequal relationship between the North, in this case represented by the EU, and the South, represented by Nigeria, trade agreements, and the processes of negotiations.