International Political Economy, Trade and Development
Theoretical map
IPE studies the interaction of states and markets. Know mercantilism/economic nationalism, liberalism (comparative advantage, Ricardo), structuralism/dependency (Prebisch–Singer thesis, import substitution), and critical/neo-Gramscian approaches. Concepts: hegemony and the liberal order, embedded liberalism, Washington Consensus versus post-Washington Consensus, developmental state, and global value chains.
Trade regime
GATT (1947) to WTO (1995): most-favoured-nation, national treatment, tariff bindings, dispute settlement (Appellate Body crisis), and special and differential treatment. Know the Doha Round impasse, plurilateral agreements, RTAs and mega-regionals (CPTPP, RCEP). LDC issues: duty-free quota-free access, TRIPS flexibilities and pharmaceutical patents, and graduation thresholds. Bangladesh's stakes: RMG exports, rules of origin, EU GSP/EBA, and LDC graduation (scheduled 2026) with its loss of preferences.
Finance and development
IMF surveillance and conditionality, SDRs, World Bank lending windows (IBRD vs IDA), debt sustainability, ODA targets (0.7% of GNI), FDI, remittances, and the SDG financing gap. Climate finance (Green Climate Fund, loss and damage) is now a development-finance issue.
Traps
Do not equate the WTO with the World Bank or treat MFN as "most favoured country" in a discriminatory sense - it is non-discrimination. Do not say LDC graduation is automatic accession to OECD status. Remember comparative advantage is about opportunity cost, not absolute productivity.
Rule of thumb
Analyse any trade dispute in three steps: which principle is engaged (MFN, national treatment, SPS), which exception is invoked (Article XX), and what remedy the DSB can authorise.