Negotiating Trade in Uncertain Worlds

"Scholars have long asked about the games nations play. Clara Weinhardt takes us a step further by dissecting with profound analytical flair a decade of fraught negotiations between Europe and West Africa over their new economic relations. Beyond diverging interests, she shows how impasse can be rooted in radically diverging expectations over which game the parties are playing in the first place. If only such disjunctures could be acknowledged and overcome, we would live in a much more cooperative world. This book will be of critical interest to anyone interested in game theory and international affairs, the political economy of trade or EU external relations and Africa." – Kalypso Nicolaïdis, University of Oxford, UK

"States sometimes fail to cooperate, even when cooperation is in their interests. This impressive book combines elements of economic and sociological thought to show how states inability to understand one another leads to breakdowns in trade negotiations. Scholars and practitioners interested in global cooperation, difference in international politics, or the future of trade need to address Weinhardt’s important book." – Eric Grynaviski, George Washington University, USA

"Clara Weinhardt’s book breaks new ground by deploying constructivist theory to clarify how uncertainty about the rules of the game between the EU and ACP countries led to misperceptions about the interests and expectations of the negotiating partners. The unique contribution of the book lies in the creatively way in which the author convincingly demonstrated how these misperceptions led to miscalculation of possible equilibrium outcomes as well as the ongoing impasse in the negotiations. This book will be a valuable resource to academics working on North-South trade relations, policy makers and trade negotiators on both sides of the Atlantic." – Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba, Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, University of South Africa, South Africa.