NATO, APEC and ASEM: triadic interregionalism and global order

Among the three core regions in today's world, Europe, North America and East Asia, interregional arrangements have been developed in various forms. Transatlantic relations were institutionalized in the form of a security alliance (NATO), although not in the field of economic relations. The transpacific relations were institutionalized in the economic field with the creation of APEC in late 1980s. The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) emerged in 1996, with an aim to strengthen the ‘weak leg’ in the triadic interregional relationship. Although the three sets of triadic interregional arrangements display discernable differences, they tend to share some identical functions, such as balancing, governance and identity building. Interregionalism rests on and promotes multi-polarization, complementing the multilateral system, and could be seen as an indispensable element of the world order, which may be better characterized as a multi-level governance system.     

Trade relations between Europe and East Asia

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) framework was created in 1996, with the primary purpose of strengthening economic, political and cultural relations among the 15 countries of the European Union and ten East Asian states. This paper examines the origins of these recent economic linkages, in a global and inter-regional context.¶The paper charts the principal elements of ASEMs economic pillar to date, assesses the influence of multilateral trading environments (notably the WTO) on the region-to-region dialogue and examines ASEMs impact on intra-regional economic developments, especially in the case of East Asia.¶The paper will focus in particular on the flagship projects of trade and investment facilitation, to discuss whether and to what extent ASEM itself can be seen to further cooperation and coordination in specific fields of activity.¶The final part of the paper aims to analyse the prospects for future economic relations between East Asia and Europe, in the wake of a devastating financial crisis in Asia, in the context of a continued war on terror which, since the Bali bombing has had an even more immediate impact on Asia, and in the changing global economic environment as regulated by the tenets of the WTO.     

The European Union’s trade and investment policy in Asia: new challenges and opportunities in a changing global environment – or: following individual roadmaps

Asia is Europe’s largest trading partner and EU-Asia trade relations have undergone a rapid change since the global financial crisis. On a global scale, the new multilateral trade agreements such as the now stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving European Unions’ (EU) major trading partners such as Japan, Singapore and Vietnam also have the potential to change the trade equations. In this paper, we evaluate the new EU trade policy which has been designed to ensure that the EU benefits from the changing global trade scenario and also look at the steps which have been taken by the EU to promote trade relations with its major trading partners in Asia in the predicted ‘Asian century’. We look into the Free Trade Agreements, which are being negotiated with its Asian partners and seek to understand the reasons which have resulted in delays in their signing and negotiations. We evaluate new policies pushed forward by its Asian partners such as the One Belt One Road policy by China and Japan’s policy of securing a large number of trading agreements in the America. Moving ahead, we also shed light on the indirect factors that may influence the success of EU trade negotiations in Asia such as the EU policy on granting China market economy status and the commencement of the ‘Brexit’ process. Lastly, we try to present a list of immediate priorities for EU in Asia, which will ensure that it secures a toehold in trade with the region. All in all, it is shown that the EU has not one and the same approach for all Asian countries but it negotiates flexibly and individually country by country. Because of this “country by country approach” the EU is also not ready to enter into general EU-ASEAN trade negotiations again.     

Early American Views Regarding European Unification

This article examines the origins of US foreign economic policy in the post-1945 period and the major challenges posed to US policy by European economic integration and the establishment of a multilateral trade regime. US post-war economic planning began in the early stages of World War II. The US promoted bilateral trade agreements based on reciprocity and most-favoured-nation principles. During the war, US policy makers debated the merits of various plans to provide economic and financial assistance to Europe based on the assumption that Nazi Germany would be defeated. The plans for economic reconstruction of Europe were made under the premise that US economy would benefit from the creation of export markets in Europe. However, US policy makers were also concerned that the creation of a unified European market could potentially constitute a challenge to US economic hegemony and perhaps a political threat should Europe fall under another tyrannical regime. US policy therefore pursued twin tracks: it promoted economic reconstruction and integration in Europe; at the same time, it facilitated the establishment of an international trading regime that would promote principles of liberalised trade, support US economic growth and contribute to the development of a free enterprise capitalist trading system. This article illustrates that US economic planners in the 1940s were aware of the benefits and risks of European economic integration, seeking to balance European economic reconstruction with the establishment of a robust multilateral trading system.     

新时期日韩关系发展现状及展望

作为同样推行市场经济的国家,日韩两国不仅地理相近,人文相通,近年在政府外交、经贸合作、民间交流等领域也不断出现热络的势头。作为东亚乃至东北亚区域的重要国家,中日韩FTA的重要成员,美日韩安保合作的铁三角,日韩关系的演变不仅涉及双边,还将影响多边稳定,关乎未来区域合作与格局。探讨新时期日韩关系发展现状及未来走势,对于东北亚乃至亚洲及世界的和平与发展具有重要意义。     

Bracing for Cold Peace. US-Russia Relations after Ukraine

Despite rising back to prominence during the global economic turmoil, the International Monetary Fund remains under severe pressure over its lack of legitimacy and effectiveness. It is surrounded by increasingly vibrant and potentially competing systems of regional financial arrangements. But while it is feared that regional arrangements can undermine the global financial order, they can also help buttress the multilateral institutions that are struggling to manage an increasingly complex global economy. The purpose of this article is to draw on trade, exploring the decades-long efforts to ensure compatibilities between regional trade agreements and the multilateral trading system, to offer lessons to financial policymakers.     

Eurasia: re-emergence of two world regions

Relations between Asia and Europe have a long history back to ancient times. This history is also a history of superpowers. Today the relations between Asia and Europe are dominated by various regional actors, mainly the EU and ASEAN. Their bi- and multilateral cooperations have changed the international system. These processes, called inter- or transregionalism, also have deep impact on the regional integration in both regions, but especially in Asia. Interregionalism fosters open regionalism in Asia and has catalysed further efforts to multilayered regional integration in this world region.     

Sub-regionalism,regionalism, trans-regionalism. Implications for economic integration and international trade policies

  This paper provides a summary of the various concerns surrounding regionalism. First, it provides a brief review of regionalism with a general explanation of what regionalism means, especially in terms of regional trade agreements. Second, it discusses the various benefits that allegedly arise due to regionalism. Third, in contrast, the disadvantages and problems associated with regionalism are discussed. In conclusion, it seeks to explain the implications of regionalism in terms of economic integration, international trade policies and the future of Asia–Europe relations. It suggests that regionalism is inexorably progressing, that in the end we will all tend to share in its benefits and that countries particularly in Asia and Europe should prepare themselves in light of these developments.     

The challenge of institution-building in Asia and its implications for Asia-Europe relations

  East Asia, including Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, has developed tightly-linked production/distribution networks through globalizing corporate activities. The vertical chain of production in East Asia has been even more sophisticated than economic integration in East Europe or Latin America. However, the political environment of East Asia for trade and investment has been far from borderless. The integration effort at the policy level has been very much limited so far, due to the historical background as well as geopolitics surrounding East Asia. The Asian currency/financial crisis provided these countries a historical turning point. After the burst of the crisis, East Asians realized that they have to take care of themselves in their difficulties, not depending on outside forces. A natural choice for them was to step into the realm of regionalism. In 1998, Japan and Korea officially announced that they would discard the long-lasting GATT/WTO-only approach and adapt the multi-layered approach, including both regionalism and multilateralism. The ultimate goal of regionalism would be a region-wide integration including ASEAN+3. As a steppingstone, Japan signed the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA) in January 2002. In a parallel move, the ASEAN and China Leaders announced in November 2001 the establishment of an ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) within 10 years. This article will follow up the most recent advancement of regional institutional building in East Asia with the emphasis on peculiar characteristics of economic integration in the region and discuss its implications for Asia-Europe relations. This paper is heavily drawn from Kimura (2002, 2003).     

中蒙经贸合作的现状与发展前景

中蒙两国地理相邻,交通便利,经济互补性较强。近几年来,蒙古经济复苏,中蒙经贸合作发展迅速,中国已成为蒙古第一大贸易伙伴和第一大投资国。但中蒙经贸关系也存在一些问题和摩擦,尤其是经济技术合作规模较小,合作层次较低。如何化解矛盾,加强各行业联系,进一步扩大中蒙经贸合作已经成为双方都十分关注的课题。     

RCEP的构建及中国应对策略研究

"区域全面经济伙伴关系"(RCEP)①是近年来东盟力主的东亚地区的区域合作形式,虽然目前还处于"符号"阶段,但业已引起各方的广泛关注。中国加入RCEP应有以下战略考量:一方面,在当今世界经济合作的大背景下,中国应该积极参与RCEP的构建,获得先期的主动权和话语权;另一方面,中国还应放眼全球,与世界主要贸易国继续努力,推动多边贸易自由化的发展。     

印度一欧盟贸易关系发展现状及其发展态势

欧盟作为世界上最大的经济体,为印度的经济发展提供了广阔的市场及发展空间,印度很重视发展与欧盟的关系,尤其是经济关系;而印度作为一个发展潜力极大的发展中国家,自然资源、人力资源极为丰富,欧盟同样需要进一步加强与印度的贸易关系。目前双方的贸易关系进展平稳,但也存在不可避免的挑战,特别是欧盟东扩后,双边贸易关系的前景面临着更多的变数。     

Still bilateral after all these years: US-Japan trade negotiations in telecommunications

Telecommunications is a leading industry that occupies a significantpart of the contemporary economy and impacts economic developmentconsiderably. Since the 1980s, three major trade disputes intelecommunications – the NTT procurement, MOSS/Motorola,and NTT interconnection charge disputes – have developedbetween the Japanese and US governments. In responding to USpressures, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)has generally been receptive to US demands and willing to containnegotiations to a bilateral format, unlike the Ministry of InternationalTrade and Industry, which has become resistant to US pressuresand active in utilizing multilateral arrangements. This papershows that explicit government involvement in the industry concerned,combined with strong US pursuit of negotiations, made it difficultfor MPT to resist US pressure and resulted in its enactmentof measures conciliatory toward the United States. These findingsare then applied to brief analyses of other trade disputes toshow the generalizability of the approach.     

From the Outside Looking In: The Effect of Trading Blocs on Trade Disputes in the GATT/WTO

The increasing number and expansion of trading blocs is an important dimension of the contemporary international economy. This study examines the effects of such trading blocs on third parties and on the multilateral trading system. It is argued that trading blocs have negative economic effects on economic sectors in non-members' states. These sectors urge their governments to take political action vis-à-vis the trading bloc. Governments have several policy choices on their menu, and the attractiveness of these policies is determined by domestic and international incentives and constraints. I argue that filing a complaint in the GATT/WTO is an attractive and effective policy tool in the hands of third parties' governments. Thus, I hypothesize that the existence, deepening, and widening of trading blocs result in an increase in the number of complaints filed against their members in the multilateral trading system. I examine these propositions in the context of three important trading blocs—namely, the EU, NAFTA, and Mercosur—in the period 1948–2000. To test these hypotheses a time-series cross-section count model is performed. Controlling for conventional alternative explanations, the empirical analysis supports the theoretical framework.     

美国TPP战略的动机及其对东北亚经济一体化的影响研究

美国TPP战略既是美国外贸政策的重大调整,也是对WTO全球多边贸易秩序的系统性突破。它不仅反映了美国政府试图重振其国内脆弱经济的努力,同时也标志着美国亚太经济合作战略的重大转变。本文运用一般均衡模型,模拟了不同情境下美国TPP战略对不同地区产生的各种经济影响。模拟结果显示:TPP加入国家福利增加,而非加入国将受损,一个不包括中国的TPP将使得中国福利受损,贸易条件恶化。中国需要迅速建立包含中日韩三国的东北亚自由贸易区,同时应根据自己的长远利益构建针对美国TPP战略的其他对冲性政策。     

东北亚国家经贸合作：新形势新发展

东北亚各国政治经济形势和对外政策已经发生并正在发生一些有利于区内经贸合作的变化我国“十五”时期对外开放将进入新阶段。尤其要加强与东北亚国家的经贸合作；俄罗斯与东北亚国家外交关系有了较大发展，并把扩大经贸合作提上了议事日程；朝鲜将实施对外开放政策和进一步与韩国实现和解；蒙古新政府将继续实施“多支点”外交政策，并首先加强与东北亚国家的经济联系；日本在与东南亚国家发展经济合作的同时将扩大与东北亚国家的经贸合作。     

Crisis studies and the near east: The cases of Lebanon and Cyprus†

This paper is about the relationship between foreign trade and national power in the contemporary Asia Pacific. Imports and exports among the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Community) members are studied over time in order to assess the extent to which this trade has evolved in ways which ceteris paribus provide the larger trading states with more or less leverage to influence the smaller ones. We offer a conceptual discussion of conditions that are likely to shape the incentives to actually use such leverage and, if actually exercised, the prospects that such attempts may succeed. A pattern analysis of trade in the Asia Pacific then follows from which we conclude that the smaller non‐Latin American APEC countries have diversified their trading partners recently and thus reduced their exposure to leverage based on asymmetric dependence in their trade relations. At the same time, we expect from our conceptual discussion that the larger APEC countries are generally more likely to exercise self restraint than to use trade to extract gains on other issues.     

Whither East Asian economic integration? Korea��s regionalization cum globalization strategy

The recent regionalization in East Asia can be defined in terms of regionalization cum globalization. In the case of Europe, regionalization was originally intended to create a preferential and protected area. From its inception, however, regionalization in East Asia emphasized open membership and global liberalization. This so-called open regionalism was then adopted as a fundamental principle of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Given that APEC is an inter-regional institution, however, the concept of open regionalism is not applicable to characterize exclusively Asian integration process that gained momentum on the basis of the ASEAN + 3 framework. For many East Asian countries, a regionalization initiative, especially after the 1997 financial crisis, was a natural response to cope with globalization. Indeed, although East Asian economies are increasingly regionalized, the global market remains crucial and exclusively Asian arrangements are still rare. Globalization and regionalization processes are mutually reinforcing. Singapore is one example that developed into a regional economic hub through the regionalization cum globalization strategy. Given that Korea concluded recently two important free trade areas with the USA and the EU, Korea is also capable of building such a regional economic hub. The first step is to strengthen a cooperation network between the three Northeast Asian countries, China, Japan, and Korea. This network, together with ASEAN, is expected to catalyze the regional integration in East Asia and shape its future evolution.     

EU trade relations with Emerging Asia: identifying the issues

Trade interdependence between Europe and Asia has rapidly increased in recent years. Europe–Asia trade flows now constitute a ‘third link’ in the global economy. As trade expands, however, global trade governance has declined and free trade agreements (FTAs) have increased. Hence, the Global Europe strategy has been designed to enhance trade relations with emerging Asia which is the most dynamic region in the global economy today. But Asia’s model of export led growth leaves it more exposed to shocks emanating from outside the region than ever before raising questions about its sustainability. Deep integration agreements between Europe and Asia are needed to foster economic growth. They also need a development dimension to help Asian countries address their key development challenges. Brigid Gavin was the Research Coordinator of the workshop on ‘Deep Integration and North–South Free Trade Agreements: EU Strategy for a Global Economy’ which provided the papers and discussion forum for the articles in this special edition. The workshop took place at the United Nations University-Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) centre in Bruges, Belgium on 19–20 June, 2008. She wishes to express her thanks to Mr Luk Van Langenhove, Director of UNU-CRIS for financial support and to all the authors and participants in the workshop for their contribution to making this project a real success. A special word of thanks goes to Lars Nilsson, Chief Economist Unit, DG Trade, European Commission for his opening presentation to the workshop. Alice Sindzingre is Research Fellow, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Paris and Visiting Lecturer at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. This analysis draws from her paper ‘The EU Economic Partnership Agreements with Africa’ which she presented at the workshop and available on the UNU-CRIS website.

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Power through trade: opportunities and constraints of the European Union’s norm entrepreneurship—the case of Hong Kong

Asia Europe Journal - The economic, trade, and cultural relations between the European Union (EU) and Hong Kong are widely recognized in the existing literature to be the most beneficial and...