A diverse range of area specialists are brought together here in the first volume which embraces such a geographically diverse treatment of the subregional system. The Central European Free Trade Area, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation scheme, ECOWAS in West Africa, MERCOSUR, the Association of Caribbean States, Chilean strategies, the "Greater China" project, ASEAN, and the East Asian Economic Caucus are all explored in order to mount a case for a "new International Political Economy" perspective in the understanding of subregional cooperation.

Contested Governance in Japan extends the analysis of governance in contemporary Japan by exploring both the sites and issues of governance above and below the state as well as within it. This volume discusses the contested nature of governance in Japan and the ways in which a range of actors are involved in different sites and issues of governance at home, in the region and the globe. It includes chapters on global governance, local policy-making, democracy, environmental governance, the Japanese financial system, corruption, the family and corporate governance.