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Regional economic integration

Introduction

During the Depression of the 1930s, the world plunged into a period of isolationism, trade protection and economic chaos. After World War II countries saw that cooperation was needed to repair the wreckage of the war. This spirit of cooperation was designed to promote economic growth and stability. For the countries of Western Europe , which share a common ethnic heritage, it was also seen as a way to prevent future internecine wars such as those of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.

In the first four chapters of this subject we looked at the world as an entity and in general we shall continue to take that perspective. In this chapter, we focus on particular regions in which countries have sought to combine in some form of economic union.

We discuss an important form of such cooperation - regional economic integration. We will look at different forms of integration, discuss the economic and political benefits and costs of integration and examine the current state of affairs of economic integration in various regions of the world. As we study economic integration we should remain aware of the threats and opportunities such integration provides for international business.

Topics

The following is the outline of the topics covered in this chapter.

Learning outcomes

The objectives for this chapter have been carefully constructed to reflect the most significant concepts and ideas we are going to cover and to provide a focus for your work during the chapter. After completing the work you should be able to:

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