Multilateralism and Regionalism in Global Economic Governance

Reconciling regionalism and multilateralism is a challenge common to all branches of global economic governance. While the Bretton Woods/GATT (WTO) institutions, decades-old multilateral framework for global economic governance, are facing serious challenges to their effectiveness, regional framework are emerging as complementary or alternative means of global economic governance. The real challenge is how to reconcile multilateralism and regionalism in global economic governance. This book tackles this problem by analysing issues of multilateral/regional conciliation and coordination in global economic governance, focusing on Asia.

Chapters of the book deal with challenges of multilateralism and regionalism in three fields of global economic governance, namely, global monetary/financial governance, global trade governance, and global investment governance. The major regional focus is on Asia, though some chapters deal with regionalism in Europe and North America. Topics include Asian Monetary Fund and Asian financial architecture, open accession provisions of regional trade agreements, and APEC’s role in multilateral investment rules.

As a whole, the book elucidates the contemporary reach of Asian regionalism in global economic governance, and shows the neat balance between regionalism and multilateralism in global economic governance. It is of particular use to the students and practitioners of international economic law, international political economy, international finance and international economics, both with and without Asian focus.