Professional Documents
Culture Documents
already recognized by the WTO. More are currently being negotiated and all
regions oI the global economy are participating. This could not be said a Iew
years ago, as the entire Asia-PaciIic region, Ior example, largely avoided these
agreements. Countries like Japan and South Korea, and even Australia, were
staunch supporters oI the multilateral regime. Only ASEAN countries were
advancing preIerential trade within their ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), which
started in 1992. However, this pattern has changed dramatically. In recent years,
no major economy has been willing to abstain Irom the current trend oI bilateral
trade agreements..
Business and Politics
GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE: BEYOND MANAGEMENT BY
THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION?
The DecIine of GIobaI Economic Governance
and the RoIe of the TransatIantic Powers
Heribert Dieter, German Institute for International and
Security Affairs, Volume Issue Article
Recommended
Globalisation has become the most fashionable catch-word of our time. By the most
enthusiastic of its supporters it is seen as a process that will result in the melting away of
national boundaries and the unification of mankind in one peaceful and prosperous world
community. By its fiercest critics it is seen as the source of all the ills that inflict the
poorest?and collectively the most populous?countries and/or social groups. It will be
argued in this article that these positions are both flawed, though in different ways. What
both these views have in common is that they regard globalisation as a set of international
and transnational (that is, non-state) phenomena that are pro gressively eroding the power
of states as actors in relation to markets. Many supporters of globalisation view the
supposed weakening of states as a positive trend, since they suppose that it promotes the
Utopian vision of a unified world community. To many opponents of globalisation the
supposed weakening of states, particularly in the Third World, exposes them to external
pressures from international market forces that are detrimental to their societies and
which they cannot resist. ` We are grateful to participants of the 3rd CSGR Conference
combtlJqe uolvetslty ltess ls collaboraLlng wlLh !S1C8 Lo dlglLlze preserve and exLend access Lo kevlew
oflotetootloool 5toJles
loballsaLlon or reglonallsm? SLaLes markeLs and Lhe sLrucLure of lnLernaLlonal Lrade
1PLCuC8L LLAuS Anu PA88? AASC18Cu* AbsLracL