The contemporary interest in regionalism, often referred to as “new regionalism”, is undoubtedly one of the important trends in contemporary international relations. The study of new regionalism has much to do with the resurgence or emergence of regional organizations during the 1980s and 1990s. The revival of academic interest in regionalism has been associated with a number of developments at a global level. These include, the end of the Cold War, the increase in economic interdependence, and globalization. Scholarly attention has been drawn to the creation of a number of regional organizations, such as the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), which was created in 1991 in South America. Meanwhile, 1989 saw the birth of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

While regions have been typically defined as geographically proximate, the existence of interdependent states and regional attempts at formal cooperation has made it evident that, these definitions are too narrow for modern day usage. Simply put, the connectivity between state borders need not be a necessary element to reflect cooperation and integration. Instead, the geographical criterion is too limiting an explanation of regions, in an increasingly interdependent and globalized world. This leads to “new regionalism”, the second wave of regionalism that needs to be related to the transformation of the world, is associated with interrelated structural changes of the global system.

Of these new regional organizations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has become the most interesting case study for applying the characteristics of “new regionalism”. APEC was formed in 1989 in Canberra, Australia, with support from the United States of America. Australia first proposed the formation of APEC with the intention of promoting open regionalism, with emphasis on liberalization, privatization and open markets. The APEC forum is now one of the main regional organizations seeking to enhance the level of regional collaboration in the economic area (Haider, 2002). Therefore, it is important to study the APEC from the perspective of the new regionalism theory.

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