The new regionalism

Once again, regionalism is afoot. Twin late-1980s announcements, by the United States and Canada of negotiations for a free-trade area, and by the EU of an attempt to complete its internal market, ignited a conflagration of regional integration. Well over a hundred regional arrangements, involving most nations, now exist. Deja vu: the 1950s and 1960s had likewise witnessed many 'old regionalism' initiatives. Except for Western Europe, these in the end amounted to little, however, and efforts for preferential trade became quiescent, until the dramatic advent of the 'new regionalism'.