The Asia-Pacific’s new economic bilateralism and regional political economy

It is generally accepted that the two most significant recent developments in the Asia-Pacific regional political economy1 concern the proliferation of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) projects between an increasing number of the region’s states, and the emergence of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) framework that has coalesced a region-wide set of East Asian states into an operationalised economic grouping for the first time. In both cases, the 1997/98 East Asian financial crisis proved to be a major catalyst behind these developments. From its conception, the APT framework has sought to establish regional financial governance mechanisms that were devised to avert another crisis from occurring. A key factor in the expansion of bilateral FTA projects amongst Asia-Pacific states derives from new post-crisis formulas to improve international economic relations generally. The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States has further intensified both processes, and moreover has introduced a stronger security dimension to the strategic diplomacy motives that are driving them forward.