Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and World Trade Organisation

Seen against the background of the prospective division of labour on a global scale, international trade relations are shaped by two differing trends. On the one hand, a worldwide liberalisation of the exchange of goods and services; on the other hand, an increase in efforts towards regional integration. In the following article, Heribert Dieter from the German Foundation for International Relations in Berlin and the University of Postdam analyses the opportunities, problems and conflicts rooted in the juxtaposition of the two trends, focusing on the implications of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).