Why do countries come together in regions? Why do some regions succeed? Are regions economic or political tools, for development or negotiation? At the 1996 EADI Conference, the papers presented in the World Trade and Policy workshop looked at the new trends in regionalism from a variety of points of view. They were searching for the effects of regions, for their implications for policy and performance in the developing countries and for international economic institutions, and trying to interpret them in terms of economic and political theory. The first two contributions in this book examine the general nature of regionalism, how it is related to globalisation and to theories about national development. The next two attempt to understand it by comparing it across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These are followed by seven analyses of individual regions, in southern Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and Central Europe. The final papers look at the interests of developing countries which cut across regional boundaries, the vulnerability of small countries and the effect of the global changes in trade policy.