REVIEW
by research supervisor of the graduate qualification paper submitted by the second-year student of the 41.03.05 - «Intern.relations», Education program BM.5569 «International Relations (in English)» master’s program at SPbSU

________Tretjakova Alena____________
(first name, last name of the student)
titled ___ The influence of the free-trade zone on the economy and relations between its member states: on the example of USMCA________________________________________
(title)

1. Assessment of the paper:
No.	Assessment Criteria
(codes of competences according to curriculum)	Grade:
•	excellent, A (5.0)
•	good, B (4.5)
•	good, C (4.0)
•	satisfactory, D (3.5)
•	satisfactory, E (3.0)
•	unsatisfactory, F (0.0)  	Reviewer’s Comments
(mandatory for those criteria on which the paper is assessed critically or downgraded)
1.	Academic relevance of the research problem 
(ОПК-4, ПКА-5)	A	We live in a period when integration studies are not so popular due to multiple examples of sanctions and trade wars. Still, low levels of integration (free trade zones) have good prospects globally as an element of making IR more stable and predictable.
2.	Scholarly contribution by the author
(ОПК-4, ПКА-2, ПКА-3, ПКА-5, ПКА-6, ПКП-9)	B	The thesis is combination of description of already existing forms of integration and assessment of probabilities for further development of economic liberalization in North America. Contribution is visible but not very impressive.
3.	Appropriateness of the research objective, coherence of research objective and research tasks
(ОПК-4, ПКА-2, ПКА-5, ПКА-6, ПКА-10, ПКП-9)	B	Instead of presenting “ new trends in the implementation of the USMCA” (as promised at page 5), the author on Conclusion describe positive and negative consequences of trade liberalization in North America/
4.	Quality of the empirical scope and of the primary sources review
(ПКА-2, ПКА-7, ПКП-4)	A	Excellent
5.	Comprehensiveness of secondary sources (academic literature) employed by the author
(ПКА-2, ПКА-7)	A	Comprehensive
6.	Adequacy of chosen research methods to the stated research objective and research tasks  
(ПКА-2, ПКА-8, ПКА-10) 	A	Adequate
7.	Correspondence of empirical results to the stated research objective and research tasks
(ОПК-7, ПКА-2, ПКА-3, ПКА-5, ПКА-6, ПКП-4, ПКП-9)	B	Empirical results of the research not fully correspond to research objective and tasks.
8.	Text formatting and editing 
(ОПК-7, ПКА-7)	A	Excellent.
9.	Diligence, consistency, and responsibility demonstrated by the student when writing the paper
(ОПК-7, УК-6)	A	Very good.
Average grade:	 4,7

2. Conclusion/Recommendations for the evaluation commission:


3. Recommended grade (in ECTS): A



June 5, 2022

D.Phil. (Econ.), Professor
Department of European studies,
Saint-Petersburg State University
 

                                                                                Stanislav L. Tkachenko