ABSTRACT
The Pacific political economy is in the midst of significant structural and institutional change. Over the past four decades the distribution of political and economic capabilities has shifted from a pattern that reflected American hegemonic presence toward a more complex balance of power. Economic and security issues have become more separate, reducing the nesting of these two issue-areas. Furthermore, an institutional basis for handling the regional political economy on a multilateral basis is rapidly being developed, with the result that the prior predominance of bilateral negotiations is eroding. Collectively, these changes constitute a substantial reorganization of the Pacific political economy.
