ABSTRACT
The Asia Pacific region, and the East Asia region in particular, have seen rapid growth and economic integration at an unprecedented speed and depth. The only other region with comparably deep links is Europe. Asia is characterized by market-driven integration and regionalization, whereas integration in Europe was institution led (Drysdale 1988; ADB 2008). In Europe, economic integration followed political cooperation. This contrasts starkly with East Asia where economic integration was the product of market forces, and occurred despite political tensions and often without the facilitation of formal diplomatic ties.
