Is the Future Regional?

Are regional agreements the future for global trade networks?

Moderator:
Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute

Panellists:
Martin Sandbu, European Economics Commentator, Financial Times
James Crabtree, Executive Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Asia
Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI)

This podcast episode was recorded on October 12, 2021

The AIG Global Trade Series 2021 examines the ongoing transformation of the world’s multilateral trading system.

Regional and plurilateral trade agreements are on the rise and changing in nature. Post pandemic, the search for supply chain resilience could accelerate the trend towards regionalism, and away from globalization.

In this podcast, moderator Rem Korteweg of the Clingendael Institute is joined by Martin Sandbu, European Economics Commentator, Financial Times; James Crabtree, Executive Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Asia; and Wendy Cutler, Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). Listen as they discuss whether regionalism is the future for global trade networks or a harbinger for deglobalization, fragmentation and fracturing of the global trade system.

Do regional agreements complement or undermine the multilateral trading system underpinned by the World Trade Organization? Will trade, geopolitics and national security issues become ever more entangled through regional and bilateral agreements? And can greater regional integration be a positive force in creating a fairer, greener, and more sustainable global trading system?

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