Multilateralism versus Regionalism in World Trade

Łukasz Nazarko

The paper presents a synthesis of the discussion on the two modes of development of the world trade. The following questions are asked: Should the international trade develop through the broad multilateral agreements or should countries instead pursue the trade liberalisation in preferential blocks? Are theses two ways mutually contradicting or complementary? The paper proposes a pragmatic approach which admits that each RTA and its effect on global welfare should be examined individually taking into account the motives and ways of forming it as well as how it evolves over time.