ABSTRACT
Transregional trade agreements have proliferated in recent years, and they are occupying a larger space between multilateral and regional trade agreements. Before discussing this issue, it is necessary to define several terms. Multilateral trade negotiations liberalize trade at the global level. Trade transregionalism reaches far back into the history of humankind, which can be observed throughout the centuries in different forms and projects. For example, the Roman Empire fostered trade transregionalism from the first to fifth centuries ce in the Mediterranean littoral, including parts of North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe; and the spread of Roman law and Latin as a common language in major outposts provided stability for this trade. Although countries negotiate transregional preferential trade agreements primarily for economic reasons, political security and geopolitical factors also might have a role. The geopolitical implications of changing trade patterns in Asia therefore remain uncertain.
