1. For a more general discussion of the NICs, see A. Chowdhury and I. Islam, The Newly Industrializing Countries of East Asia ( London: Routledge, 1993 ).
2. The idea of an ‘imagined region’ is derived from B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflection on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism ( London: Verso, 1991 ).
3. See J. Clarke, ‘APEC as a Semi-Solution’, Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs, 39, 1 (1995) 81–96.
4. See R. Higgott, ‘Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation: Theoretical Opportunities and Practical Constraints’, Pacific Review, 7, 4 (1994) 103–18.
5. In the writing of this section, the author draws heavily on the work of G. Segal, Rethinking the Pacific ( Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991 ).