Regionalism And Rivalry

As Japan's newfound economic power leads to increased political power, there is concern that Japan may be turning East Asia into a regional economic bloc to rival the U.S. and Europe. In Regionalism and Rivalry, leading economists and political scientists address this concern by looking at three central questions: Is Japan forming a trading bloc in Pacific Asia? Does Japan use foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia to achieve national goals? Does Japan possess the leadership qualities necessary for a nation assuming greater political responsibility in international affairs? The authors contend that although intraregional trade in East Asia is growing rapidly, a trade bloc is not necessarily forming. They show that the trade increase can be explained entirely by factors independent of discriminatory trading arrangements, such as the rapid growth of East Asian economies. Other chapters look in detail at cases of Japanese direct investment in Southeast Asia and find little evidence of attempts by Japan to use the power of its multinational corporations for political purposes. A third group of papers attempt to gauge Japan's leadership characteristics. They focus on Japan's "technology ideology," its contributions to international public goods, international monetary cooperation, and economic liberalization in East Asia.

Rivalry and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the most important strategic and economic region in the world. Asia-Pacific is a region that is undergoing a major transformation, largely as a consequence of the rise of China and its growing rivalry with the United States. Whatever happens in the Asia-Pacific will profoundly influence global events, not just regional ones. Looking ahead, the region's future direction — and even its name — is contested and uncertain.This two-volume reference work, by one of the world's leading analysts of regional affairs, places these events in historical context and considers what they may mean for future political, economic and strategic relations. By focusing on the United States, China and the region's most significant middle powers, the book explains why and how the Asia-Pacific has become the fulcrum of international events.

This book examines two opposing interpretations of NAFTAs potential expansion into a Western Hemisphere Free Trade Association (WHFTA)one fearing the creation of a deliberately exclusionary Fortress America, the other welcoming the prospect of substantial economic opportunities for Asia and the countries of the Pacific Rim. Contributors evaluate the commercial, financial, cultural, and political linkages between the Americas and the Pacific Rim, assessing the magnitude of interests that might be affected by NAFTA or FTAA. }Authorities and experts in Japan and other Asian countries have expressed considerable fear that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will create a Fortress America that will deliberately exclude nations of the Pacific Rim. Others argue that economic integration will provide substantial opportunity for Asia/Pacific countries and thus contribute to the dynamism of the Pacific Century ahead. This book explores the varying interpretations and looks at their implications for countries of the Pacific Rim. Might NAFTA provoke the formation of an economic bloc in the Asia/Pacific area? Or will economic liberalization occur on a global and multilateral scale? What are the political dimensions of these possible options and processes? Examining the interconnections such policy alternatives may have for both the Pacific Rim and Latin America, the contributors evaluate the commercial, financial, cultural, and political linkages between the regions to assess the magnitude of interests that might be affected by NAFTA or FTAA. Assessing the range of policy options available to countries involved, they seek to make an original contribution to the debate about the formation and structure of the post Cold War world order

Three trends have dominated the political economy of integration during the last two decades: globalization, economic nationalism, and regionalization. This book explores comparative regional integration, focusing on both intra­ regional integration and relations among regions in the context of power. The most common focus of integration studies has been on the logic of cooperation, but there is another logic of integration: power. The relevance of power today is represented by the relations within the Eurozone, especially between creditors and debtors. By the same line of reasoning, integration in Asia cannot ignore the respective roles of China, Japan, and Korea, nor the unresolved disputes about Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the islands in the South China Sea. This edited volume addresses the role of power in regional integration in three contexts: (1) the role of hegemonic external actors (the US and China) in regional integration; (2) the role of core states within regions (Germany, China , Japan, and Brazil); and (3) the role of noncore states- smaller and middle­ range powers (Italy and Greece in Europe; South Korea and Malaysia in Asia; and Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay in Latin America). This book will benefit students and scholars of international relations and comparative political economy, especially those with an interest in integration studies and comparative regionalism.

The three main levels of analysis in international relations have been the systemic, the national, and the individual. A fourth level that falls between the systemic and the national is the region. It is woefully underdeveloped in comparison to the attention afforded the other three. Yet regions tend to be distinctive theaters for international politics. Otherwise, we would not recognize that Middle Eastern interstate politics somehow does not resemble Latin American interstate politics or interstate politics in Southern Africa (although once the Middle East and Southern Africa may have seemed more similar in their mutual fixation with opposition to domestic policies in Israel and South Africa, respectively). This book, divided into three parts, first makes a case for studying regional politics even though it must also be appreciated that regional boundaries are also hazy and not always easy to pin down empirically. The second part examines power distributions within regions as an important entry point to studying regional similarities and differences. Two emphases are stressed. One is that regional power assessments need to be conditioned by controlling for weak states which are more common in some regions than they are in others. The other emphasis is on regional power hierarchies. Some regions have strong regional hierarchies while others do not. Regions with strong hierarchies operate much differently from those without them in the sense that the former are more pacific than the latter. The third part of the book focuses on regional differences in terms of conflict behavior, order preferences, rivalries, and rivalry termination.

A Brookings Institution Press and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry (Japan) publication East Asian economic integration is on the rise. In the past decade, all of the region's powers have begun negotiating free trade agreements with their neighbors. They are also exploring broader regional options, such as the creation of an East Asian summit or free trade area. These developments have not always been welcomed by observers in other parts of the world. Some fear that they mark a turn away from integration into the global economy and herald the emergence of a closed, inward-looking bloc. In this timely and important book, Naoko Munakata offers an alternative perspective, based on her experience as an economic official and trade negotiator over the past 20 years. East Asian integration, she argues, is not driven by defensiveness or anti-Western sentiment. Instead, it reflects pragmatic calculations of economic interest, as well as a desire for mutual trust and a sense of community. Munakata makes her case by analyzing developments in the region since the mid-1980s, highlighting such important factors as the evolution of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the impact of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis, and the rise of China. She also outlines possible future scenarios for the region and offers policy prescriptions for building on regionalism's achievements to date. Over the coming decades, the rise of China, its relationship with Japan, and the institutional arrangements that bind those countries to the United States and the countries of East and Southeast Asia will become critical factors in the global balance of power. Transforming East Asia is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots of this transformation.

Regional economic arrangements such as free trade areas (FTAs), customs unions, and currency blocs, have become increasingly prevalent in the world economy. Both pervasive and controversial, regionalization has some economists optimistic about the opportunities it creates and others fearful that it may corrupt fragile efforts to encourage global free trade. Including both empirical and theoretical studies, this volume addresses several important questions: Why do countries adopt FTAs and other regional trading arrangements? To what extent have existing regional arrangements actually affected patterns of trade? What are the welfare effects of such arrangements? Several chapters explore the economic effects of regional arrangements on patterns of trade, either on price differentials or via the gravity model on bilateral trade flows. In addition, this book examines the theoretical foundation of the gravity model. Making extensive use of the gravity model of bilateral trade, several chapters explore the economic effects of regional arrangements. In addition, this book examines the theoretical foundation of the gravity model.