ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers three prevailing ideological positions that exercise considerable influence on the thinking of governments around the world. All trade agreements apply the principles of market access and national treatment to trade in services. They consider GATS, which is an extensive multilateral agreement binding all of the WTO's 159 member countries. The history of deliberations on education within the APEC forum show how interest in trade liberalization has evolved, but not disappeared. Several years later it sponsored two reports, APEC and International Education and Measures Affecting Cross Border Exchange and Investment in Higher Education in the APEC Region. The book not focus on the many criticisms of the treatment of education in the World Trade Organization (WTO) system, but rather on the ways in which critics of liberalization have over time advocated restrictive forms of regulation.
