ABSTRACT
In analyzing the new regionalism in Northeast Asia, this chapter presents a variety of theoretical elements. The international political economy, international factor mobility, the role of imperfect competition, rent-seeking behavior and political-economy considerations such as potential conflicts between regionalism and multilateralism, capital flows, state policies and domestic market growth are some of the elements that should be recognized. The chapter also presents the development of China, Japan and Korea (CJK) within the rapidly changing patterns of economic integration in the global economy. With the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, the increasingly rapid process of economic globalization, the changing structure of the international political economy from bipolar to unipolar, and the wide but rapid spread of regional economic integration in Asia, the future of multilateral liberalization. The most advanced type of economic integration is the economic union, where the monetary and fiscal policies of member states are harmonized and sometimes completely unified.
