The rise of cross-regional trade agreements is a defining trend of the current international trade system as shown by the signing of the Transpacific Partnership in 2015, the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the USA and the EU as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership between countries in Asia and Oceania. These differ from previous agreements in their economic significance and large geographic scale, and the wide scope of trade-related issues.

The current rise of nationalist and isolationist ideologies...