Postgraduate research students

Research Summary

Under its newly published Indo-Pacific Outlook, European Union (EU) is pivoting its strategic focus to Southeast Asia. ASEAN countries are gaining their relevance in EU’s global strategies. However, EU's strategic pragmatism and value-based principles inevitably clash in FTA negotiations between EU and ASEAN countries. On the one hand, EU is striving for strengthening its strategic influence and position in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand, EU, priding itself as a global normative power, has exhibited growing efforts to impose policy conditionality around normative issues as part of trade treaties when negotiating with ASEAN countries with mixed human rights, labor and environmental sustainability issues. Thus, with the cases of EU-Vietnam and EU-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement Negotiations, this research will conduct an International Political Economy analysis on how EU pursues the balance of normative principles and pragmatism in the design of social standards in the Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN countries.

Research Aims

The project will address a cutting-edge question in International Political Economy: explaining the growing efforts to impose policy conditionality around normative issues like human rights and environmental protection as part of trade treaties, and whether it can succeed. 

Research Interest

• International Political Economy
• Politics of trade and economic governance
• EU-ASEAN countries relations
• EU/ASEAN countries trade policy
• Free trade agreements
• Southeast Asian studies

• Dr Maha Rafi Atal
• Dr Patrick Shea

• The 2nd High-Level Forum of Philippine National Development, School of International Relations and Insititute of Southeast Asian Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, 7th November 2020. Participant, Organiser’s Assistant and Bluebook proofreader.