About the Book

From Centralised to Decentralising Global Economic Architecture: The Asian Perspective focuses on the recent rise of new regional economic institutions such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which were established, in part, as a result of dissatisfaction of dynamic emerging markets with global economic institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the GATT/WTO. The latter were formed by advanced economies in the West, after the historic Bretton Wood Conference of 1944.

In doing so, the book addresses how this recent round of decentralisation, defined as the co-existence of “senior” global institutions and a plethora of newly established regional institutions, has affected global economic governance, and the delivery of global public goods. It also poses the question if this has led to the fragmentation of global economic governance.

The book adds value to existing literature by using a benefit-risk analytical framework to study the decentralisation process. Unlike the “contested multilateralism” argument used by some authors which focuses on the costs of decentralisation, the authors argue that benefits must also be considered. It also describes and analyses the establishment of global and regional international economic institutions and the evolving relationships between the two. Third, the authors argue that this decentralisation process will continue in the post pandemic period and recommend policies to reset the relationship between global and regional institutions. And lastly, the book discusses proposals to reform the international monetary system including the global reserve system with a view to reducing the hegemony of the US dollar.

Throughout the book, the role for Asia is also identified, and elaborated on.

About the Authors

Pradumna B. Rana is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Prior to this, he worked for 25 years at the Asian Development Bank. His last appointment at the ADB was Senior Director of the Office of Regional Economic Integration which spearheads the ADB’s support for Asian economic integration. He obtained his PhD from Vanderbilt University where he was a Fulbright Scholar and a Masters in Economics from Michigan State University and Tribhuvan University. He has authored/edited 20 books, and published over 55 articles in peer-reviewed international academic journals.

Rana recently co-authored books on China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Impacts on Asia and Policy Agenda (Palgrave Macmillan 2020), Jump-starting South Asia: Round Two of Reforms and Look East Policies (Oxford, University Press 2018), Asia and the Global Economic Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan 2010), and South Asia: Rising to the Challenge of Globalization (World Scientific Publishers 2009). He edited a book entitled The Renaissance of Asia: Evolving Economic Relations between South Asia and East Asia (World Scientific Publishers 2012), and co-edited books on Global Shocks and the New Global and Regional Financial Architecture (ADB Institute 2018), and New Global Economic Architecture: The Asian Perspective (Edward Elgar 2014).

Rana has published widely in internationally reputed journals such as the Journal of International Economics, The Review of Economic and Statistics, Journal of Development Economics, World Development, International Trade Journal, Journal of Asian Economics, Singapore Economic Review, East Asian Economic Review, Global Governance, and Global Policy.

Xianbai Ji is an Associate Professor and a Distinguished Young Scholar at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China (RUC). He is also Director of the Office of Continuing Education at the School. He works on geo-economics, economic sanctions, global economic governance, (mega)regionalism and Southeast Asian affairs. His latest book publication was Mega-regionalism and Great Power Geo-economic Competition (Routledge, 2022). His articles have appeared in journals such as The Chinese Journal of International Politics and The Pacific Review. In 2021, he was awarded a Chinese National Social Sciences Fund Research Grant to study the process of Asia-Pacific economic integration and cooperation. He holds Master’s and doctoral degrees in International Political Economy from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore where he was a Nanyang President’s Graduate Scholar. Prior to joining RUC, he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies of RSIS.

Book Review Discussants

Ling Wei is Professor of International Studies at the School of International Relations of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) based in Beijing, China. Before joining the UIBE, she was Professor and Director of East Asian Studies Center, Asian Studies Institute, and Zhou Enlai Diplomatic Studies Center successively at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU). She was a visiting scholar to Oakland University (Michigan, the US, 2003) and French Institute of International Relations (IFRI, 2007), a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at Cornell University (2012-13), and International Chair of LUISS University in Italy (2018). She holds a Ph.D. in international relations from China Foreign Affairs University. Her research interests include international relations theory, East Asian cooperation and Chinese foreign policy. She is on the editorial board of Waijiao Pinglun (Foreign Affairs Review), Dongnanya Yanjiu (Southeast Asian Studies), Yatai Anquan yu Haiyang Yanjiu (Asia Pacific Security and Maritime Studies), and East Asian Affairs. She has published extensively on track II diplomacy, East Asian regionalism, and Chinese foreign policy.

Xue Gong is Assistant Professor in China Programme of S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She holds a PhD in International Political Economy at NTU. Her current research interests include International Political Economy, China’s economic diplomacy, regionalism and governance. She has contributed to peer-reviewed journals such as the International Affairs, the Pacific Review, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Harvard Asia Quarterly. She has one co-edited book in Securing the Belt and Road Initiative: Risk Assessment, Private Security and Special Insurances Along the New Wave of Chinese Outbound Investment (Palgrave Macmillan 2018). She has also contributed to several book chapters on China’s economic statecraft, China’s corporate social responsibility and Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia. She has contributed various Op-Ed articles such as the South China Morning Post, The Diplomat, and so on.

Alan Chong is Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He has published widely on the notion of soft power and the role of ideas in constructing the international relations of Singapore and Asia. His publications have appeared in Contemporary Southeast Asia, The Pacific Review; International Relations of the Asia-Pacific; Asian Survey; East Asia: an International Quarterly; Politics, Religion and Ideology; the Review of International Studies; the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and Armed Forces and Society. He is also the author of Foreign Policy in Global Information Space: Actualizing Soft Power (Palgrave, 2007) and editor of International Security in the Asia Pacific: Transcending ASEAN towards Transitional Polycentrism (Palgrave, 2018). He is currently working on several projects exploring the notion of “Asian international theory”. His interest in soft power has also led to inquiry into the sociological and philosophical foundations of international communication. In the latter area, he is currently working on a manuscript titled ‘The International Politics of Communication: Representing Community in a Globalizing World”. In tandem, he has pursued a fledgling interest in researching cyber security issues. He has frequently been interviewed in the Asian media and consulted in think tank networks in the region.