ABSTRACT
One of the hallmarks of contemporary globalization is the formation of regional blocs to facilitate both multilateral and bilateral liberalization of trade. This chapter explores some of the dilemmas and challenges faced by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and some of the consequences on regional cohesion and stability. APEC's journey in the last 27 years or so has not been easy because of the fundamental difficulty in ensuring consensus amongst the 21 countries, who mostly have diverse levels of development, historical experiences, cultural backgrounds, political systems and sovereign interests. The chapter concludes by looking at the impact of Donald Trump's election as the next US president. Trump's promise to disengage with TPP may have some impact on APEC due to the close alignment between the two agreements and will have a lot of impact on the geopolitical landscape of the Asia-Pacific as a result of China's dominance to fill the void.
