Bilateralism looms large in International Economics in general and in East Asia specifically.Here bilateral trade agreements and bilateral currency cooperation are both regionalmanifestations of this global trend. Yet, is bilateralism a constant pattern of economic cooperationin East Asia or just a transitional phenomenon? This paper argues that currentlyEast Asian states are still eager to conclude bilateral trade and currency agreements, butonly up to the point where multilateralism promises more gains than the ever growingcomplexity of bilateral networks, especially in the issue area of trade. Since both trade andcurrency cooperation show a drift towards multilateralism it is concluded that bilateralismmay be conceived as both transitional phenomenon and constant pattern in East AsianRegionalism.
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