Americans Speak to APEC: Building a New Order with Asia
NBR Analysis vol. 4, no 4

Americans Speak to APEC
Building a New Order with Asia

November 1, 1993

This volume is divided into two parts. It begins with several articles that address the broad question of the value and dangers of choosing regional or subregional solutions rather than relying on global ones. The authors of Part II explore the range of issues that APEC or other new institutions might take on. These issues should not be confined to the economic realm, according to key specialists and policymakers.

Norm Dicks, Bob Dole, Nicholas Eberstadt, Donald K. Emmerson, Jeffrey A. Frankel, Robert Gilpin, Slade Gorton, Lee H. Hamilton, Harry Harding, Donald C. Hellmann, J. Bennett Johnston, Kenneth Lieberthal, Winston Lord, Jim McDermott, Frank H. Murkowski, Daniel I. Okimoto, Michel Oksenberg and Ann-Marie Brege, Douglas H. Paal, Dwight H. Perkins, Kenneth B. Pyle, John D. Rockefeller IV, William V. Roth, Jr., George F. Russell, Jr., Richard J. Samuels, Robert A. Scalapino, Frank Shrontz, and Sheldon Simon

This volume is divided into two parts. It begins with several articles that address the broad question of the value and dangers of choosing regional or subregional solutions rather than relying on global ones. Subsequent articles give greater perspective on the international and historical context of APEC, and examine preconditions for APEC’s success. Rounding out Part I is a series of articles that focus on perhaps the greatest challenge to the willing engineers of a new order in Asia, the challenge of leadership. Leadership includes, of course, exercising influence. Just as importantly, it entails articulating a strategic vision of how the institution can contribute simultaneously to Asia’s and America’s wellbeing, and how it can complement other international arrangements.

The authors of Part II explore the range of issues that APEC or other new institutions might take on. These issues should not be confined to the economic realm, according to key specialists and policymakers. Articles examine trade and investment liberalization, intellectual property rights, and the possibility of an Asian-Pacific free trade agreement. Several focus on American aid and trade restrictions that place American companies and workers at a competitive disadvantage. Contending values in United States foreign policy — democracy and human rights versus unfettered economic relations — are confronted head on. The final section focuses on the importance and relevance of security issues to APEC.