Constraining Development: The Shrinking of Policy Space in the International Trade Regime

This book explores the ways that trade and investment treaties constrain domestic policy making. It draws a common thread through trade- and investment-related areas to show how the promises of the current international legal regime have not come to fruition and to offer new options for countries negotiating new treaties.

There is a fundamental mismatch between the global trade rules as they govern international economic behaviour and the political economic factors influencing domestic policy making. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the multilateral trading system is in crisis. Countries are increasingly turning to bilateral and regional (and mega-regional) trade deals to push forward their trade agenda. There is far less consensus around these next-generation trade agreements which reach into every aspect of domestic policy-making. At this time, more than ever, policy-makers, treaty negotiators, and scholars and students of international law need to understand the ways in which this growing regime of international trade and investment impacts regulatory decisions. 

This book demonstrates how seemingly disparate spheres of legal theory and practice (investment incentives, patent protection, land reform, etc.) are all linked together through the lens of international trade and investment, while also offering solutions in the form of new negotiating texts and country examples as a way forward toward a new multilateral trade and investment regime. Furthermore, each chapter identifies the regulatory challenges facing countries.

• | Author: Rachel Denae Thrasher
• | Publisher: Anthem Press
• | Publication Date: Nov 11, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781839996498
• | ISBN-10: 1839996498