Bilateral Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific

• Countries in the Asia-Pacific have become increasingly unreceptive to multilateral trade forums like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) because of fears that such organizations cannot work effectively at mediating such a contentious issue. Instead, countries in the Asia-Pacific have begun to turn towards bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs). With this background in mind, our book explores three questions: Why does bilateralism develop? How will bilateralism evolve? And how will bilateralism affect other types of trade arrangements?

EU Transregionalism Strategies in the New Economy

• With the support of the Institute of European Studies at U.C. Berkeley, BASC has initiated a project that will consider "transregionalism" as an emerging level of international trade relations. In particular, it will study the effect on EU trade strategies of the growing importance of new economy firms and the halt in progress in global trade negotiations. Will the EU give priority to "bilateral" relationships with East Asia, Mercosur, and others in the absence of a new WTO round? This project will   analyze whether incipient EU transregionalism will make a lasting impression on the changing face of international trade.

Strategies for International Trade and Politics in Latin America

• The 1990s witnessed widening divergence among the responses of Latin American countries to trends in the international economy. Changes in the language of regional affairs, which increasingly differentiates between a North America that includes Mexico and a South America dominated by Brazil, indicate the profound impact Mexico's NAFTA membership may have on intra-American relations. In recent years, Mexico has signed free trade agreements with Costa Rica and Chile, and the European Union. Transregional free trade with Europe as well as other regions would provide some amount of balance in Mexico's trade profile, which is overwhelmingly dependent on the US market. A conference at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 2001 convened experts from across the Americas to discuss the implications of these various alternatives, and offer their perspectives on the nature and implications of this increasing divergence in strategic policies.