New Free Trade Agreements In The Asia-Pacific

The proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) in the Asia-Pacific is arguably the most important development in the region's international political economy of recent years. This text makes a comprehensive study of the main causes, consequences and nature of the Asia-Pacific's new FTA trend, as well as its implications for the global economy. It explores the FTA policies of the region's trade powers and offers new conceptual and theoretical perspectives on the relationship between economic bilateralism and regionalism, in particular whether intensifying FTA bilateralism may lead to the development of 'lattice regionalism' in the Asia-Pacific. The conclusions drawn from this research indicate that FTA bilateralism will mostly work against regional community-building in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, mainly through fracturing diplomatic and trade relations between the regions' states. It could moreover add further duress to an already critically under pressure World Trade Organisation and exacerbate the 'development divide' both in the Asia-Pacific and globally.

About the Author:
Christopher M. Dent is Senior Lecturer in the East Asian Economy in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds, UK