Regional trade negotiations and the construction of policy choice in the Pacific Islands Forum (1994-2014)

© 2014 Dr. Wesley MorganThis thesis provides a comprehensive account of the Pacific island states’ engagement with the contemporary global trade regime, over the 20 years following the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Existing political analysis has tended to characterise Pacific island states as relatively powerless actors in the multilateral trading system. Such analysis suggests they have had little choice but to embrace trade liberalisation, to join the WTO and to sign on to WTO-compatible trade agreements. However, these accounts do not explain why Pacific island states in fact proved reluctant to join the WTO, or to sign WTO-compatible free trade agreements with their key trading partners. This thesis contributes to the literature by providing a more considered explanation for the recent trade policy choices of Pacific governments. The thesis draws on contemporary international relations theory to interrogate regional trade policymaking in the Pacific. It employs a constructivist approach that emphasises the role of knowledge in the political process. More specifically, the study uses an ‘epistemic community’ approach, as developed by Haas (1992), to explore how a discrete network of trade experts – a Pacific trade epistemic community – helped island policymakers locate and pursue their interests in multilateral trade talks, and during a series of negotiations for new regional trade agreements. The main body of the thesis constitutes a ‘thick history’ of regional trade policymaking from 1994 to 2014. The three central findings of this thesis are as follows. First: Pacific policymakers proved reluctant to conclude agreements with the European Union, and with Australia and New Zealand, because they did not understand orthodox, reciprocal, free trade agreements to be in their interests. Members of the Pacific trade epistemic community had convinced them unique and additional policy measures would be necessary if such agreements were to provide them any benefits. Second: even while epistemic community arguments undermined the conclusion of regional negotiations, some community proposals were nonetheless adopted in other policy domains. Of most importance in this regard were new labour mobility schemes allowing Pacific islanders to work in Australia and New Zealand. Third and finally: epistemic community arguments successfully refashioned shared understandings of the trade-related challenges faced by Pacific island states. By 2014 epistemic community ideas had become new ‘institutional or social facts’. Policymakers and trade-experts alike drew on them when considering appropriate policy for Pacific island states. The findings of this thesis imply that, with the aid of appropriate technical expertise, Pacific island states in fact have considerable agency relative to global regimes and the core states who champion them. In certain circumstances island countries can influence processes of international cooperation in ways that further their interests. Key findings imply furthermore that technical experts are powerful actors in regional policymaking. Where advisors are able to gain bureaucratic influence, and to disseminate their ideas over time, they are able to frame issues and delimit policy options for Pacific island governments. In short, they are central to the construction of policy choice