The University of San Francisco’s Center for Business Studies and Innovation in Asia-Pacific (CBSI) invites the University community to an April 25th discussion with Ambassador Larry Greenwood (former Ambassador to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and longtime Foreign Service Officer in Asia. Entitled “International Institutions in Asia,” Ambassador Greenwood’s talk will explore the role international institutions have played in the increasing prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. Among the institutions considered are the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Trade Organization (WTO), Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), World Bank, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Many of these institutions were developed in the years following World War II, while others are much more recent. Some were designed to create the conditions for regional prosperity (APEC and ADB), while others focus on increased trade and commerce (WTO and CPTPP), infrastructure financing (ADB), and some seek to increase regional integration and security (ASEAN). Recently, China’s increased economic power and political assertiveness has become an important feature. New, Chinese-sponsored institutions include the Belt Road Initiation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and RCEP, while “the Quad,” and AUKUS (Australia, the UK and US) have emerged as potential counterweights to Chinese influence. Ambassador Greenwood’s discussion will address the rationale behind the creation of the many multilateral institutions in Asia as well as their continuing evolution.
