Introduction to the regional trade agreement: making sense of the RTA spaghetti bowl. The importance of RTAs ; Why RTAs? ; Controversies about RTAs ; Typology of RTAs and other economic agreements ; Comparing RTAs/variation in RTAs ; Organization of this book -- Africa. African monetary unions ; Context of African RTAs: African international political economy (IPE) ; RTAs in Africa -- The Americas. South American RTAs ; Context of South American RTAs: South American IPE -- statism, economic liberalism, and its critics ; Caribbean RTAs ; Context of Caribbean RTAs: Caribbean IPE -- diversity, vulnerability, and security ; Context of Central American RTAs: Central American IPE -- history and security ; RTAs in the Americas -- Asia. Context of East Asian RTAs: East Asian IPE (Of tigers, cubs, dragons, and rising suns) ; Context of Southeast Asian RTAs: Southeast Asian IPE ; Context of South Asian RTAs: South Asian IPE -- Can geopolitics be overcome? ; RTAs in Asia -- Europe. Context of European RTAs: Why European integration? ; RTAs in Europe -- Russia and the former Soviet republics. Context of RTAs in the former Soviet Union region : IPE of incomplete and varied transitions ; RTAs in the former Soviet Union -- The Middle East and North Africa. Explaining low levels of MENA integration in the post-World War II period ; Context of MENA RTAs : IPE of the MENA ; RTAs in the Middle East and North Africa -- The Pacific Islands. Context of Pacific Islands RTAs : IPE of the Pacific Islands region ; RTAs in the Pacific Island region -- Conclusion. RTAs : facade or real structures? ; RTAs : dynamic, not static ; Regional patterns of RTAs ; RTAs, globalization, and international political economy theories ; Concluding thoughts : RTAs as microcosms of globalization -- Appendix A. The World Trade Organization. The Uruguay Round ; The Doha Development Agenda ; WTO membership -- Appendix B. European Union preferential access agreements -- Appendix C. US Free Trade Agreements and pending free trade agreements -- Glossary.