Project
Untangling the Spaghetti Bowl of Regional Integration
This is a joint PhD project between UNU-CRIS and Ghent University.
We study the global tangle created by the proliferation of Regional trade agreements since World War II, a phenomenon known as the Spaghetti Bowl of Regional Integration. While this metaphor gives an intuition of how intertwined the near 700 active agreements are, it does not reflect the complexity of the underlying phenomenon. In this project, we argue that a more rigorous, empirically-grounded definition is needed to understand the phenomenon. We study how it has formed, what effects it has, and how it may continue to develop.
Related content
News
Roundtable Discussion: How to Bridge the Gap between Policymakers and Academics in Africa and the Global South
Emmanuel Balogun and Thomas Tieku are holding a virtual roundtable hosted by the International Studies Association.
Journal Article
With Great Power Comes Great Dispersion. How Policy-Cycle Competences Drive Power Dispersion in Regional Organizations
This is an open-access article. Do member states concentrate or disperse competences when delegating authority to regional organisations (ROs)?
Degree Defense
Public PhD Defense of Justine Miller, UNU-CRIS PhD Fellow
The defense by Justine Miller on "Disentangling the Spaghetti Bowl of Regional Integration" takes place in Ghent on Tuesday, 18 June 2026.
Event
Traditional Medicine at the Nexus of Climate, Biodiversity, and Land Restoration (Rio Conventions)
UNU-CRIS is pleased to contribute to this important dialogue through its ongoing work at the interface of knowledge systems, policy innovation, and multilateral cooperation.