ABSTRACT
One of the hallmarks of contemporary globalization is the formation of regional blocs to facilitate both multilateral and bilateral liberalization of trade. As we have seen with the European Union, the most established regional trade bloc, one of the most fundamental challenges in establishing a free trade region is to reconcile and balance out the competing inter-state and regional interests in a fast changing and increasingly unpredictable economic and political climate. As political entities with entrenched strategic, economic, geopolitical and domestic interests, states often construct multi-layered contextual identities which they selectively project when the circumstances require. This usually creates complications and challenges in multilateral deals such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a regional trade bloc established in 1989 to facilitate the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific economies with the primary role of trade liberalization and multilateral cooperation in a region with a long history of inter-state hostility.
