Evgeny Postnikov

Evgeny Postnikov is Associate Professor in International Relations in the School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Melbourne. He earned his PhD in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014, with a doctoral dissertation titled 'Valued Exports: Social Standards in EU and U.S. Trade Agreements.' This research culminated in his book, Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements, published in 2020. His academic career includes prior positions at the University of Glasgow and the University of Pittsburgh. Postnikov's scholarship focuses on international political economy, particularly the politics and governance of trade policy. His research examines preferential trade agreements (PTAs), including their design, institutional features, and incorporation of social standards such as labor and environmental provisions. He investigates the effectiveness of dialogue-based approaches to labor standards in EU PTAs, the environmental impacts of trade agreements, geo-economic motives in EU FTAs with Asia-Pacific countries, non-trade issues in PTAs and global value chains, and the design of autocratic trade agreements for economic integration and political survival.

Postnikov has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, contributing to key debates in the field. Notable publications include 'Does dialogue work? The effectiveness of labor standards in EU preferential trade agreements' (Journal of Common Market Studies, 2014), 'Greening up: the effects of environmental standards in EU and US trade agreements' (Environmental Politics, 2017), 'Social protectionist bias: The domestic politics of North–South trade agreements' (British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2020), 'The Structure of Coordination: Transatlantic Policy Networks and the Mobilization of Business and Civil Society' (Journal of Common Market Studies, 2021), 'Non-trade issues in preferential trade agreements and global value chains' (Review of International Political Economy, 2024), and 'The Design of Autocratic Trade Agreements: Economic Integration and Political Survival' (International Studies Quarterly, 2024). His work also covers topics such as sustainable development standards in EU PTAs, resisting issue-linkage in Australian trade agreements, and labor provisions' effects on women's rights in the Global South. At the University of Melbourne, he coordinates subjects such as Trade Policy Politics & Governance.

Professional Email: evgeny.postnikov@unimelb.edu.au