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186Book Reviews public intellectual, not a researcher per se, and Thirayuth's is a translation of a piece he published in a Thai weekly. Obviously, the Thai contributions need to be increased. Overall, however, this is a timely book on the "new" Thai politics which certainly contributes a great deal to a better understanding of the political changes in Thailand, which incidentally seem to be occurring at a rather rapid pace under the new government ofThaksin Shinawatra. Surin Maisrikrod fames Cook University, Townsville Queensland, Australia Whither Free Trade Agreements? Proliferation, Evaluation and Multilateralism. Edited by Jiro Okamoto. Chiba, Japan: Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), JETRO, 2003. 414pp. Free trade agreements (FTAs) are too important to be left to the analyses of economists. This superb book is about the hows and whys of FTAs pursued by countries in the Americas and Asia, where the web of FTAs and regional free trade agreements (RTAs) can eventually lead to a single world free market system. The United States, "irritated" by the paralysis of the negotiations for multilateral trade liberalization by GATT/WTO, is said to have switched gear to a series of bilateral FTAs in the Americas as well as distant Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. A staunch promoter of multilateralism, Japan swiftly abandoned its established policy and followed suit. Singapore and Thailand, two of the most ardent supporters of regional free trade of ASEAN, also opted for a series of FTAs. However, Malaysia has stood firm in favour of ASEAN regionalism. Neorealism turns trade into national or neomercantilist agendas, while the structures and benefits accruing from FTAs and RTAs are decidedly neoliberal. The first three chapters are fine renditions of the free trade theories from the Smith-Ricardian classical perspectives to the more refined Ohlin-Hecksher theorem on trade and international political economy models of FTAs. The reader learns about the fine distinctions among preferential trade agreement, FTA, RTA, customs union, common market and economic integration. The three waves of FTA movements are well explained: the European initiatives of the 1950s; the refined commitment of economic integration of Europe and Book Reviews187 Latin America's failed union of import-substitution economies in the 1960s and 1970s; and finally, the third wave in the late 1990s, the "WTO plus" phase, going beyond the issues that GATT/WTO could not and would not cover — labour, environment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, migration, services, and cross-border investment. The best chapters for this reviewer are the country case studies. Korea is briefly covered in the Japan chapter, still an appendage of the Asian Co-prosperity Sphere policy. Indonesia and China are left out, presumably because neither has been active in pursuing FTAs on their own. China was briefly treated in the Japan chapter, for its closing of an FTA deal with ASEAN sent a chill down the spine of Tokyo, jolting it into quick action. Soon after the APEC meeting in Bangkok in 2003, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi invited ASEAN heads of government to Tokyo for a chat to let the world know that Japan is not ready to abandon Southeast Asia to China's devices. Judging by Southeast Asian politicians' eagerness to rush to Japan, it is clear that China and Japan are in the long haul locked in battle to woo Southeast Asia. For Southeast Asia, what China and Japan offer is so diverse and if managed right, the relationship can be complementary. But the question is: can good economic diplomacy prevent all conflicts of security interests in Asia? Will China or Japan take a second place in the integrated East Asia? And can the "proliferation" of FTAs in Asia inadvertently lead to conflict? The reasons for pursuing FTAs, bilateral and trilateral, for the United States (Chapter 5), Japan (Chapter 8), Singapore and New Zealand (Chapter 12), and Thailand (Chapter 9) are strikingly similar on the surface, but each has deeper internal political realities for going for FTAs. Japan is a reluctant and even accidental participant in FTAs and RTAs. Like the United States, Japan, New Zealand, and others have been strong supporters of multilateral (worldwide) trade liberalization, but the snail pace ofprogress under GATT/WTO, APEC, AFTA/ASEAN, CER-AFTA, Pacific...

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