- Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Bradford
Donna Lee
Manchester Metropolitan University, Business School, Faculty Member
- University of Bradford, Social Science, Department Memberadd
- Political Economy of International Trade, African political economy, Commercial Diplomacy, Economic Diplomacy, Small States, Small Island Developing States, and 10 moreWorld Trade Organization, Political Science, International Relations, Diplomacy, African Studies, International organizations, International trade agreements , Regional integration and human development, Trade relations between Latin America, the U.S. and the EU, and International and Comparative Political Economyedit
- I have research interests in global trade governance and development; the WTO system, trade negotiations; African, sm... moreI have research interests in global trade governance and development; the WTO system, trade negotiations; African, small state, and international political economy; international tourism and development; and economic and commercial diplomacy. I teach undergraduate and post graduate courses in international economic diplomcy and negotiations; global governance; and international organisations.
I am currently working with Dr Mark Hampton (Kent University Business School)http://kent.academia.edu/MarkHampton on a World Bank funded project on the political economy of tourism in small island states, and have recently worked with colleagues in the BISA African and International Relations Research Group on a 2 year ESRC funded workshop series on Africa in International Relations. I am also working with numerous colleagues who Lead overseas Small States Research Centres at the University of Malta, University of Prince Edward Island (Canada), Reunion University (France), and the University of Tasmania to develop a cross-institutional international research institute on Small States. I am also working with Emma Foster on a project “Embedding Employability in the Political Science and International Relations curriculum” funded by the Higher Education Academy.
I co-edit the Palgrave Diplomacy & International Relations monograph series http://www.palgrave.com/products/series.aspx?s=SID and hold numerous positions on editorial boards of international refereed journals and monograph series, including the new Journal of Diplomacy and Economy http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalCODE=ijdipe.
I am a member of the Advisory Board of the European Parliament 2013 Conference “the European Union and Emerging Powers.”
I am currently external examiner on the University of Oxford’s Foreign Service Programme.edit
After the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) critical December 2005 Hong Kong ministerial meeting, negotiations to implement the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) broke down completely in the summer of 2006. This book offers a detailed and... more
After the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) critical December 2005 Hong Kong ministerial meeting, negotiations to implement the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) broke down completely in the summer of 2006. This book offers a detailed and critical evaluation of how and why the negotiations arrived at this point and what the future holds for the WTO.
The WTO after Hong Kong is the most comprehensive account of the current state of the World Trade Organization and will be of enormous interest to students of trade politics, international organizations, development and international political economy.
The WTO after Hong Kong is the most comprehensive account of the current state of the World Trade Organization and will be of enormous interest to students of trade politics, international organizations, development and international political economy.
Research Interests: Business Ethics, Political Economy, Environmental Law, Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights Law, and 32 moreInternational Law, International Development, Human Rights, Postcolonial Studies, Virtue Ethics, Corporate Governance, Natural Law, International Political Economy, Colonialism, Philosophy Of Law, World Bank, Biodiversity, Environmental Sustainability, Food Security, Ethics and economics, Enviornmental Economics, Agricultural Law, WTO, Trade Policy, Trade Law, Comparative Advantage, International Strategy, International Trade and Development, Trade and Environment, Soft Law, International Monetary Fund, International and Comparative Political Economy, World Trade Organisation, Global Economic Governance, International trade agreements , Regional integration and human development, and Trade relations between Latin America, the U.S. and the EU
The New Multilateralism in South African Diplomacyprovides a detailed analysis of how post-apartheid South Africa has participated in multilateral diplomacy in a variety of sub-regional, regional and international settings during the last... more
The New Multilateralism in South African Diplomacyprovides a detailed analysis of how post-apartheid South Africa has participated in multilateral diplomacy in a variety of sub-regional, regional and international settings during the last decade. The book will interest scholars engaged in broad debates about multilateralism in International Relations as well as those analysing the processes of multilateral diplomacy. Scholars interested in contempoary South African foreign policy will also find this book invaluable.
Research Interests: African Studies, International Relations, International Relations, Multiculturalism, Development Studies, and 18 morePeace and Conflict Studies, International Law, Human Rights, International organizations, Conflict, Security, Security, Political Science, South African Politics and Society, Governance, Nationalism, Diplomacy, Ethnicity, Minority Rights, Peace, Freedom, Diplomacy and international relations, and Journalism and communication
This book marries the disciplines of international relations and diplomatic history to provide a major new study of the GATT system in the 1960s. Using recently declassified British and American government documents, the key role British... more
This book marries the disciplines of international relations and diplomatic history to provide a major new study of the GATT system in the 1960s. Using recently declassified British and American government documents, the key role British diplomats played at the Kennedy round is identified. Through the close ties that characterize the Anglo-American relationship, the British influenced American policy and strategy in the negotiations. The evidence of this study challenges realist theories of middle power influence in the international political economy by demonstrating the determining role of state-level factors such as diplomatic skill and policy expertise. Further, finding evidence of the continuing importance of Anglo-American relations to American and British foreign policy interests, the book will encourage debate on the question of whether the so-called 'special relationship' was, to use former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson's phrase, 'played out' in the 1960s.
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... research. In particular I would like to thank Efua Wilson-Tagoe for conducting the student focus groups and summarising the responses and Paul Fantom for conducting the alumni focus groups and summarising the responses. We ...
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... Least developed countries usually send small delegations to DDA Ministerial Meetings which also means ... system in the Africa Group and the Less Developed Countries Group in the WTO. This involves a large number and wide range of... more
... Least developed countries usually send small delegations to DDA Ministerial Meetings which also means ... system in the Africa Group and the Less Developed Countries Group in the WTO. This involves a large number and wide range of African states including Kenya, Nigeria ...
... research. In particular I would like to thank Efua Wilson-Tagoe for conducting the student focus groups and summarising the responses and Paul Fantom for conducting the alumni focus groups and summarising the responses. We ...
1st international conference on Business Diplomacy - December 4th - The Netherlands - Call for extended abstracts.Conference theme: Global legitimacy challenges for international business and strategic business diplomacy. Due date: August... more
1st international conference on Business Diplomacy - December 4th - The Netherlands - Call for extended abstracts.Conference theme: Global legitimacy challenges for international business and strategic business diplomacy. Due date: August 31st.
Research Interests: International Relations, International Business, Public Diplomacy, Diplomacy, Strategy (Business), and 8 moreMarketing Strategy, Economic Diplomacy, International Business Strategy, International Management, International Business Management, Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, International Business Diplomacy, and International Business & Globalization
Research Interests: Gender Studies, Queer Theory, International Political Economy, The Body, History of Capitalism, and 6 moreCapitalism, Sociology of the Body, Political Economies of Capitalism, Imperialism/Colonialism, Racism, and Patriarchy, Phenomenology of the body, Critical international political economy, and Cultures of Capital and Capitalism
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International tourism is now the predominant industry driving growth in many small island developing states (SIDS). Governments of small islands in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific have seemingly put most of their eggs into one... more
International tourism is now the predominant industry driving growth in many small island developing states (SIDS). Governments of small islands in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific have seemingly put most of their eggs into one development basket – the all-inclusive holiday in a luxury hotel, resort or cruise ship. While this industry generates employment, foreign direct investment, and income for island governments and the private sector, it also brings with it dependencies which are borne from the transnational ownership of these all-inclusive accommodations, the risks from exogenous factors – many of which are tied to the wider security of the global system – as well as the domestic economies in the source markets in Europe and North America. We reflect upon these dependencies and risks through a case study of the Seychelles based on fieldwork research conducted in 2012. Our findings highlight that the international tourism industry in the Seychelles – even in a situation of high or growing demand – creates structurally driven precarity for tourism workers who are predominantly low paid, low-skilled, and increasingly recruited from overseas. These findings provide new evidence that contributes to the growing research into tourism in IPE. Our findings highlight the precarious condition of labour in this fast growing service sector of the world economy and in so doing also adds much needed empirical insights from the South to recent debates about an emerging precariat in contemporary capitalism.
Research Interests: Tourism Studies, Development Studies, Sustainable Development, International Political Economy, Critical international political economy, and 6 moreSustainable Tourism Development, Small Island Developing States, The resiliency of "Small Island" states, Precarious Workers, Seychelles, and Precarious work
There is something queer (by which we mean strange) going on in the scholarly practice of political science. Why are political science scholars continuing to disregard issues of gender and sexuality—and in particular queer theory—in their... more
There is something queer (by which we mean strange) going on in the scholarly practice of political science. Why are political science scholars continuing to disregard issues of gender and sexuality—and in particular queer theory—in their lecture theatres, seminar rooms, textbooks, and journal articles? Such everyday issues around common human experience are considered by other social scientists to be central to the practice and theory of social relations. In this article we discuss how these commonplace issues are being written out of (or, more accurately, have never been written in to) contemporary political science. First, we present and discuss our findings on citation practice in order to evidence the queerness of what does and does not get cited in political science scholarship. We then go on to critique this practice before suggesting a broader agenda for the analysis of the political based on a queer theoretical approach.
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This article highlights and analyses a hitherto largely neglected dimension to the growing agency of large developing countries in global affairs – their hosting of international sports mega-events. Why are large developing countries... more
This article highlights and analyses a hitherto largely neglected dimension to the growing agency of large developing countries in global affairs – their hosting of international sports mega-events. Why are large developing countries hosting sports mega-events and what does this contemporary phenomenon tell us about the significance of, for example, the Olympics and World Cup in global affairs? We explore these questions through brief examination of the cases of the three most active sport mega-event hosting states in recent times; Brazil, China and South Africa. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the up-coming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil provide interesting examples with which to explore developing country agency in the international system and in particular the discursive basis of that agency. We see the hosting of sports-mega events as the practice of public diplomacy by states to both demonstrate existing soft power capability as well as pursue its further enhancement.
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""Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African states through... more
""Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African states through a detailed study of the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the European Union (EU). In examining African resistance to EPAs, the article develops a constructivist approach to North-South trade negotiations that pays close attention to the role of development discourses. We argue that the growing willingness of African states to challenge the EU to deliver on its development promises during the decade-long EPA process was crucial to informing their sustained opposition to the EU’s goal of completing a comprehensive set of sub-regional economic agreements. We document African resistance to EU trade diplomacy in the EPAs, exploring how these otherwise weak countries were able to pursue normative based negotiation strategies by recourse to the EU’s promise of a ‘development partnership’.
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Research Interests: Business, European Studies, Economics, Development Studies, International Relations Theory, and 11 moreInternational Law, International Development, Human Rights, International Trade, International Negotiation, Politics, Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa, International Political Economy, Diplomacy, Negotiation, and International Affairs
In a growing number of countries diplomatic systems are being overhauled so that the commercial activities of diplomatic services have been centralised, the commercial activities of diplomats have been extended, and business interests... more
In a growing number of countries diplomatic systems are being overhauled so that the commercial activities of diplomatic services have been centralised, the commercial activities of diplomats have been extended, and business interests have been formally integrated within diplomatic systems. These changes result directly from the tendency of governments to reorganise, and in many cases merge, their trade and foreign ministries, as well as the strategy of building formal business–government links within diplomatic institutions. While none of these features is unfamiliar to previous diplomatic systems, what is exceptional is the relative neglect of the commercial aspects of diplomacy within diplomatic studies. This lack of attention to the commercial and business elements of diplomacy in traditional theories of diplomacy means that we find ourselves trying to analyse contemporary changes to diplomatic organisation and practice without a suitable conceptual and analytical framework. Highlighting the significance of a political economy approach to diplomacy, and also engaging with orthodox approaches to diplomacy, this article begins to develop some analytical and conceptual tools to better identify, explain and understand changes in diplomatic systems as well as the increased influence of private interests in diplomatic practice now under way.
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Research Interests: African Studies, International Relations, Multiculturalism, Development Studies, International Law, and 15 moreHuman Rights, International organizations, Conflict, Security, Security, South African Politics and Society, Nationalism, Diplomacy, International Organizations (International Studies), Ethnicity, Minority Rights, Peace, Pivotal Middle powers, Freedom, and Small and middle powers
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Diplomatic representation, both as a concept and in terms of its structures and processes, does not receive the attention that it deserves. This is surprising given that it forms a central concern for both analysts and practitioners of... more
Diplomatic representation, both as a concept and in terms of its structures and processes, does not receive the attention that it deserves. This is surprising given that it forms a central concern for both analysts and practitioners of diplomacy, with the latter confronting multiple challenges in adapting modes of representation to changes in their international and domestic political environments. One facet of this can be identified in responses to factors that have assumed a significant place in the development of diplomacy — namely distance and proximity. To the growth of proximity in both spatial and issue-oriented terms, the challenge of the 'special relationship' is added in specific contexts. Both factors come together in the case of Canada's attempts to manage its policies towards the United States. Here, strategies have moved through distinct phases responding to domestic and international changes. The latest phase, which is associated with substantial rethinking of the role and structure of Foreign Affairs Canada, assumes the form of what has been labelled the Enhanced Representation Initiative (ERI). The ERI is interesting not only in the Canadian-US context, but because it reveals more general problems for governments seeking to manage the pressures of proximity and a growing number of relationships that assume aspects of 'specialness'.
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In this 20 minute podcast I discuss the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations. I offer an explanation for the current deadlock, focusing on the trade issues, the key players such as the United States, the European Union, the G20 and... more
In this 20 minute podcast I discuss the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations. I offer an explanation for the current deadlock, focusing on the trade issues, the key players such as the United States, the European Union, the G20 and the major developing countries, as well as African Group. I end by discussing the prospect of a Doha Lite agreement and alternative ways forward for global trade liberalisation such as bilateralism and regionalism.
Research Interests: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, International Law, Human Rights, Virtue Ethics, and 13 moreCorporate Governance, Natural Law, International Political Economy, Philosophy Of Law, Environmental Sustainability, Small States, Ethics and economics, World Trade Organization, International law, international relations, human rights law, international humanitarian law, international organisations, law and politics, International Strategy, Development Strategies for African States, Soft Law, and Global Economic Governance
"This article supports growing calls to ‘take small states seriously’ in the international political economy but questions prevailing interpretations that ‘smallness’ entails inherent qualities that create unique constraints on, and... more
"This article supports growing calls to ‘take small states seriously’ in the international political economy but questions prevailing interpretations that ‘smallness’ entails inherent qualities that create unique constraints on, and opportunities for, small states. Instead, we argue that discourses surrounding the ‘inherent vulnerability’ of small states, especially developing and less-developed states, may produce the very outcomes that are attributed to state size itself. By presenting small states as a problem to be solved, vulnerability discourses divert attention away from the existence of unequal power structures that, far from being the natural result of smallness, are in fact contingent and politically contested. The article then explores these themes empirically through discussion of small developing and less-developed states in the Commonwealth and the World Trade Organization (WTO), considering in particular how smallness has variously been articulated in terms of what small states either cannot or will not do.
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Research Interests: Finance, Islamic Law, Economics, Development Studies, Organizational Change, and 28 moreInternational Business, Corporate Law, Leadership, International Trade, Sustainable Development, Africa, Strategic Management, International Political Economy, Banking, Business Law, Intellectual Property Law, Global Leadership, IMF, International trade law, Organizational Development, Small States, The Global Political Economy, Financial Derivatives, International Management, Preferential Trade Agreements, Global Financial Policy, Developing nations, Multnationals, NGO Support, IMF Reform, WTO/GATT, Arab countries' integration into the global trading system, and Finance and banking law
Small states have come to play an increasingly active part in multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) such that small state activism has been a major contributory factor in the continuing delay in concluding... more
Small states have come to play an increasingly active part in multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) such that small state activism has been a major contributory factor in the continuing delay in concluding the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations. This suggests that small states are no longer bit players and are instead key actors in the WTO. Through the formation of a range of alliances, small developing states have become central to the process and form of multilateral trade negotiations. In this article we highlight this increasing activism of small states through a study of the DDA cotton negotiations. We focus in particular on the activism and influence of four small developing African states; Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali in the negotiations. In order to explore whether size really ‘matters’ in the WTO system, our study demonstrates that while size has some relevance—since it creates unequal deliberative capacities—the major obstacle to effective influence is the persistence of protectionist policies in the cotton sector and the inability of the WTO to enforce its own liberal trade rules and obligations.
Research Interests: Islamic Law, Development Studies, Critical Geopolitics, Corporate Law, Human Rights, and 28 morePolitical Ecology, WTO Trade Topics, Business Law, Intellectual Property Law, Postcolonial Theory, Environmental Justice, International trade law, Trade, Small States, The Global Political Economy, WTO, Critical Development Studies, FTAs, GATT, Preferential Trade Agreements, Development Discourse and Theory, Climate Politics, Global (North/South) Environmental Politics, ITO, PTAs, Decoloniality Thought, African International Affairs, Pan Africanism and Regional Integration, New Politics of Self Determination and Challenges of African Boundaries, Mercenaries and Private Security, WTO/GATT, Arab countries' integration into the global trading system, and Finance and banking law
"This article develops a bottom-up approach to global trade governance and explains how subordinate states are able to develop resistance strategies to top-down processes in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It highlights the growing... more
"This article develops a bottom-up approach to global trade governance and explains how subordinate states are able to develop resistance strategies to top-down processes in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It highlights the growing activism and influence of African states in the global governance of international trade through a case study of the involvement of African states in the current Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations. In so doing, it presents new evidence of the role played by non-dominant states in shaping and contesting the rules and practices of contemporary global trade governance. The article also provides theoretical insights into the source of African resistance in the WTO by drawing attention to the role of discourse in contemporary global trade governance. In this case study the analysis focuses in particular on how subordinate African actors make use of prevailing discourses of development to hold major powers and the WTO to account for their public commitment to negotiate new trade rules that will deliver development. It underlines the extent to which subordinate actors tend to use what is available to them—in this case the discourses of dominant actors—to challenge existing power structures. The conclusion reached is that African resistance creates an African dilemma; while resistance to existing power processes means that African member states can no longer be ignored in WTO negotiations, it also means that the WTO as a forum for global governance is less effective since consensus-based agreement becomes more difficult to achieve. And the less effective the WTO is in multilateral trade governance, the more member states—and in particular dominant states—ignore the WTO and seek bilateral and regional alternatives in order to secure market opening.
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... Also focusing on the WTO, Donna Lee and Nicola Smith argue that small African states have in fact come to play a central role in multilateral trade negotiations, but that their increased activism has not translated into effective... more
... Also focusing on the WTO, Donna Lee and Nicola Smith argue that small African states have in fact come to play a central role in multilateral trade negotiations, but that their increased activism has not translated into effective substantive influence. ...
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This article reassesses the preparatory negotiations which launched the Kennedy Trade Round (KTR) of the GATT, in search of a role for Britain. My purpose is to make two challenges, one theoretical, the other empirical. Theoretically,... more
This article reassesses the preparatory negotiations which launched the Kennedy Trade Round (KTR) of the GATT, in search of a role for Britain. My purpose is to make two challenges, one theoretical, the other empirical. Theoretically, this study challenges the predominant focus on the structural power of major states that charcaterizes the study of international relations in general, and the GATT in particular. This is a case study of middle power influence that focuses on the negotiating skills and experiences of state-level actors in the KTR. Empirically, I question the generally accepted view that the Anglo-American special relationship was merely a British myth and had no significance to US foreign policy interests in the 1960s.
Research Interests: Business Ethics, Diplomatic History, Corporate Social Responsibility, International Law, Human Rights, and 24 moreVirtue Ethics, Corporate Governance, Natural Law, Foreign Policy, Philosophy Of Law, Environmental Sustainability, Trade, Economic Diplomacy, Ethics and economics, National Security, Middle Powers, WTO, FTAs, Non-Traditional Security, International Strategy, GATT, Soft Law, International and Comparative Political Economy, Global Economic Governance, ITO, PTAs, International trade agreements , Regional integration and human development, and Trade relations between Latin America, the U.S. and the EU
During the details stage of multilateral economic talks, agreements are usually negotiated using a combination of two methods ‐ compromise on individual issues and tit‐for‐tat exchanges. This article identifies the circumstances in which... more
During the details stage of multilateral economic talks, agreements are usually negotiated using a combination of two methods ‐ compromise on individual issues and tit‐for‐tat exchanges. This article identifies the circumstances in which the the US, EEC and British delegations employed these traditional diplomatic techniques, and assesses the effectiveness of these techniques in forging agreement in the details stage of the Kennedy Round, Providing a detailed account of these talks, the article demonstrates that the negotiating techniques of the American delegation were far more flexible than those of the European and British delegations and that this flexibility was vital to the successful completion of the talks. The article concludes that differences in negotiating technique are best explained by a combination of two factors ‐ the contrasting decision making structures of each negotiating team and the international political context of the negotiations.
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This article introduces some ideas about using internet classrooms to enrich the experience of those learning and teaching politics. It draws and reflects upon my three-year experience of using internet classrooms to teach politics in... more
This article introduces some ideas about using internet classrooms to enrich the experience of those learning and teaching politics. It draws and reflects upon my three-year experience of using internet classrooms to teach politics in optional and compulsory politics undergraduate modules, providing critical evaluation of the successes and problems involved. Much of what the article discusses can be applied to most, if not all, politics modules and will be useful to those wishing to use new technologies to support active learning strategies in their undergraduate teaching. The article is based on personal experience and student evaluations, rather than any rigorous research of learning outcomes. As such, I do not set out to prove that using internet classrooms has pedagogical advantages over using only traditional methods, and I am not arguing a case for or against using either.