Understanding trade bloc formation: the case of the ASEAN Free Trade Area

The formation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1991 marks a significant change in attitudes towards preferential trading arrangements in the region. In this article, we examine why such a change in policy came about In so doing, we conclude that mainstream economic approaches do not provide satisfactory explanations for the formation of AFTA. In large measure this is due, we argue, to an overly simplistic explanation of, or disregard for, state behaviour and/or an ahistorical approach which fails to consider the purpose of trading blocs in the global economy of the 1990s. We provide an alternative explanation for the formation of ASEAN which points to the need for an explicit analysis of the political economy of ASEAN states and ASEAN's relationship to the global economy.