This book includes up-to-date studies of regional integration efforts in all major parts of the world, especially North America, South America and East Asia Various Schools of thought are represented, so different approaches are used and diverse conclusions arrived at it appears that great power asymmetries in a region can make integration difficult if a dominant state is not willing to accept a relatively complete Contract - as the United States was in the Case of NAFTA - or accept supranational institutions The acceptance of supranational institutions in Europe was facilitated by the relative symmetry among the core group of larger states, including France and Germany. In South America or East Asia, such symmetry did not exist and the dominant states - like Brazil in the case of MERCOSUR - Were not willing to bind their hands through complete contracts or supranational institutions.<BR><BR>This book is a major new contribution to the literature on regional integration. The book should appeal to theorists, policymakers, students and other readers concerned about world developments. It will also serve a place on courses covering international political economy, international relations and regional integration, at both undergraduate and graduate levels<BR><BR>This volume provides valuable analysis of important angoing regional projects, how they compare with the European Union, and the approaches Which attempt to explain variation across such projects. The reader will gain a welcome Overview of the broad field of comparative regionalism as well as a deeper understanding of key regional integration schemes. Alberta sbragia, European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh, USA<BR><BR>This remarkable work does not only consider the relevance of the European experience for regional integration elsewhere but also draws upon examples from the other regions to illuminate the development of the EU from different theoretical perspectives A Great Leap Forward in the emerging field of comparative regionalism Bjorn Hettne, University of Gothenburg sweden