ABSTRACT
SINCE THE Second W'orld War, preferential trading arrangements (PTAS) have spread rapidly. Dozens have been formed over the past fifty years and almost every member of the World Trade Organization (\,(TO) is cur-
rently party to at least one.1 The proliferation of PTAs has spurred a wide variety of studies addressing the influence of these arrangements on the economic welfare of participants and the stability of the multilateral trading system. Far less effort, however, has been made to analyze the political consequences of PTAS, especially their effects on interstate conflict.
