East Asian countries are now pursuing greater formal economic institutionalization, weaving a web of bilateral and minilateral preferential trade agreements. Scholarly analysis of “formal” East Asian regionalism focuses on international political and economic factors such as the end of the Cold War, the Asian financial crisis, or the rising Sino-Japanese rivalry. Yet this work pays inadequate attention to the strategies of individual government agencies, business groups, labor unions, and NGOs across the region. Moreover, most studies also fail to adequately characterize different types of trade arrangements, often lumping together bilateral accords with minilateral ones, and transregional agreements with those within the region. To fully understand this cross-national variance, this book argues that researchers must give greater attention to the domestic politics within East Asian countries and the U.S., involving the interplay of these subnational players. With contributions from leading country and regional trade specialists, this book examines East Asian and American trade strategies through the lens of a domestic bargaining game approach with a focus on the interplay of interests, ideas, and domestic institutions within the context of broader international shifts. With respect to domestic politics, the chapters show how subnational actors engage in lobbying, both of their own governments and through their links to others in the region. They also trace the evolution of interests and ideas over time, helping us to generate a better understanding of historical trends in the region. In addition to scholars of East Asian and comparative regionalism, this book will be of interest to policy-makers concerned with international trade and U.S.-Asia relations, and those interested in understanding the rich trade institutional landscape that we see emerging in the Asia-Pacific.

`The subject of this book - Asia-Pacific economies and their integration - is very topical and of major importance to the world trade and global trading system. As the book explains, the region's market-led or 'open regionalism' contrasts with the more closed regionalism of Europe and North America, offering an attractive alternative to the other developing-country regions.' - Kym Anderson, Centre for International Economic Studies, University of Adelaide Over the last three decades, dramatic growth has occured in the Asia-Pacific economies. They have in fact grown into an economic force of international dimensions as they not only succeeded in reducing their economic dependence on major industrial countries but have also come to have a 'locomotive' effect on the international economy. This unique growth phenomenon is analysed in this book, which makes it vitally significant for the student community and business-persons, as they not only succeeded in reducing their economic dependence on major industrial countries but have also come to have a 'locomotive' effect on the international economy. This unique growth phenomenon is analysed in this book, which makes it vitally significant for the student community and business-persons.

Why is the centre of international economic dynamism moving towards the countries of the East and South East Asia? Are there common elements that explain this success? Divided into two parts, the authors consider the central debates concerning the developm

This book examines the strategic interactions among China, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asian States in the context of China’s rise and globalization after the cold war. Engaging the mainstream theoretical debates in international relations, the author introduces a new theoretical framework—institutional realism—to explain the institutionalization of world politics in the Asia-Pacific after the cold war. Institutional realism suggests that deepening economic interdependence creates a condition under which states are more likely to conduct a new balancing strategy—institutional balancing, i.e., countering pressures or threats through initiating, utilizing, and dominating multilateral institutions—to pursue security under anarchy. To test the validity of institutional realism, Kai He examines the foreign policies of the U.S., Japan, the ASEAN states, and China toward four major multilateral institutions, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN Plus Three (APT), and East Asian Summit (EAS). Challenging the popular pessimistic view regarding China’s rise, the book concludes that economic interdependence and structural constraints may well soften the "dragon’s teeth." China’s rise does not mean a dark future for the region. Institutional Balancing in the Asia Pacificwill be of great interest to policy makers and scholars of Asian security, international relations, Chinese foreign policy, and U.S. foreign policy.

Understand the Asia-Pacific economic revolution -- and its extraordinary implications.This book analyzes why the Asia-Pacific region has rapidly emerged as the world's third major trading area, and shows how this region is coming together as a cohesive "growth pole." Understand the role of intra-regional trade and foreign direct investment; learn how the Asia-Pacific economies view world trade. Understand APEC, ASEAN, and the long-term implications of Asia-Pacific interdependence. Learn about Japan's role in leading the Asia-Pacific economic bloc. Finally, take a close look at five of these powerhouse economies: Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand.This book is for any professional or student interested in the Asia-Pacific economies --and the world economy in the 21st century.

This broad-ranging student textbook examines the rise of the Asia-Pacific as an important economic region. It looks at the sources of that rise, its future development and the possible consequences for the global economy. The analysis is divided into three sections considering: * how far the Asia-Pacific has developed as a regional system, looking at the patterns of integration of the principal economies * the relationship between the key individual economies of Japan, Korea, China and the United States * how the rise of the Asia-Pacific economy has affected the international economic system. In so doing it provides much-needed insights not only into the growth of this powerful economic region, but also the international context of Asia-Pacific development.

Attempts to integrate the Pacific regional economy accelerated sharply with the formation of the regionwide, official Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 1989. This book probes into the distinctive process of regional cooperation in Asia-Pacific by focusing on the roles and perspectives of China, Japan, and Southeast Asian states. Asian developments shaping the new post-hegemonic global political economy challenge traditional models in international relations, which is here challenged to take East Asia seriously.