| Summary/Abstract |
At the beginning of October 2015 the world map of trading and economic alliances underwent an unprecedented transformation with the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the largest regional integration group in the Pacific region built on the basis of a free trade zone. The TPP accounts for almost 40 percent of the global GDP and for nearly a third of world trade flows. Using the term coined by Vladimir Lenin, the TPP can be described as "the highest stage of regionalism," for it heralds the emergence of the first transcontinental integration group. The event will have drastic effects on trade and investment flows, and not only those in the vast expanses of the Pacific, but also on the global scale.
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