Trade under strain: policy challenges in a fractured world
In an increasingly fragmented global order, new forms of geopolitical and economic division are reshaping the world economy. Long‑standing trade partnerships face growing pressure, and rising tensions threaten to unwind decades of cooperation. This event brings together an interdisciplinary panel of experts to mark the launch of the new LSE Public Policy Review issue, Trade Under Strain: Policy Challenges in a Fractured World.
The volume examines the ongoing debate around tariffs while taking a wide‑ranging view of global trade systems—exploring economic, legal, institutional, historical, and international relations dimensions. Join us for a timely discussion on how policymakers can navigate an increasingly fractured global trading landscape.
Meet our speakers and chair
Robert Falkner is Professor of International Relations and the Academic Dean of the TRIUM Global Executive MBA. His research focuses on international political economy, global environmental politics, and the role of business in international relations. HIs latest book is titled The Market in Global International Society: An English School Approach to International Political Economy (co-authored with Barry Buzan, Oxford University Press, 2025)
Boram Lee is assistant professor in the department of International Relations. Her research focuses on how value-based issues affect economic globalisation. Her book project examines how the US and the EU adopt different strategies to make those side agreements look credible in the eyes of their domestic constituencies and how those side agreements affect their relationships with partner countries.
Thomas Sampson joined the Centre for Economic Performance in 2011. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at LSE.
L Alan Winters is Professor Emeritus of Economics. He was Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the ESRC-funded Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy until retirement in 2024 and is a Fellow and Founding Director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory, both in the University of Sussex. He is a leading contributor to research and debate on Brexit and the UK's post-Brexit trade policy.
Stephanie J Rickard is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Government at LSE. For over fifteen years, she has researched issues related to the international political economy, including trade agreements and international financial rescues. In her award-winning book, Spending to Win, Rickard investigates how economic geography influences countries' economic policies and international economic relations.
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