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This chapter argues that the postwar liberal trading order is being destroyed by geopolitical conflict and geoeconomic manoeuvring. Developing country preferences politicised and fragmented the WTO. Major powers now struggle over rule-making through super-RTAs (TPP/CPTPP, RCEP, IPEF) serving geopolitical aims, while geoeconomic coercion—exemplified by superpowers’ bullying behaviour towards smaller countries—exploits WTO gaps by avoiding formal measures. Trump 2.0 represents a qualitative shift: open disregard for multilateral rules through unjustified tariffs and attacks on the system itself. The chapter concludes that we are witnessing the end of the liberal trading order, with fragmentation into regional blocs (EU, CPTPP, RCEP) likely unless states relearn the dangers of abandoning multilateral disciplines.

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Geopolitical Conflict, Geoeconomic Manoeuvring, and the Law of the Jungle: Are We Witnessing the End of the Liberal Trading Order?

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Jianfu Chen,
  • Zhiqiong June Wang

摘要

This chapter argues that the postwar liberal trading order is being destroyed by geopolitical conflict and geoeconomic manoeuvring. Developing country preferences politicised and fragmented the WTO. Major powers now struggle over rule-making through super-RTAs (TPP/CPTPP, RCEP, IPEF) serving geopolitical aims, while geoeconomic coercion—exemplified by superpowers’ bullying behaviour towards smaller countries—exploits WTO gaps by avoiding formal measures. Trump 2.0 represents a qualitative shift: open disregard for multilateral rules through unjustified tariffs and attacks on the system itself. The chapter concludes that we are witnessing the end of the liberal trading order, with fragmentation into regional blocs (EU, CPTPP, RCEP) likely unless states relearn the dangers of abandoning multilateral disciplines.