What is it about?
Why do countries sometimes cooperate in their foreign policy by acting jointly with a third-party? I look at this question in the context of trade negotiations. I argue that decisions to cooperate are shaped by the social and historical context that decision-makers find themselves in. Policymakers and officials from Australia and New Zealand decided to behave as a `single actor' in trade negotiations with Southeast Asian states. This cooperation helped Australia and New Zealand policymakers to achieve goals relating to bilateral international economic relations.
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Why is it important?
My findings show that countries do not necessarily need a formal system of institutions to enable effective cooperation with third-parties. Where third-parties recognise the legitimacy of joint country action, and where joint action supports other goals, formal institutions are not strictly necessary.
Perspectives
This article came about from my MA research into Australia-New Zealand cooperation in the context of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific. This is an under-studied example of economic regionalism, and I hope that it can offer useful insights to scholars studying these processes elsewhere, including in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Matthew Castle
McGill University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Embedding regional actors in social and historical context: Australia-New Zealand integration and Asian-Pacific regionalism, Review of International Studies, July 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0260210517000316.
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