8 Introduction
The deliberations included in the monograph represent a broad spectrum of topics
that constitute a review of the current trends and phenomena in the global economy.
The perspective of the Polish and Japanese economists translates into the high
diversity of discussed subjects and reflects the multidimensional challenges that
occur in the today’s globalized world.
The first part includes three chapters that give a brief overview of macroeconomic
trends in the modern globalized economy. Like in Asia Pacific, some regions have
already become one of the world’s leading regions of economic growth and regional
economic integration. In this context, the author of the first chapter begins by
presenting a review of the modern trends of negotiations over free trade agreements
and regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by a research and
literature review about the expansion of the Asia-Pacific global value chains. This
study explains the existence of the two substantial agreements that include
a structure established by the ASEAN and individual associated countries and the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (currently transformed into the Comprehensive and
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). Moreover, the study of global
value chain networks in this particular region shows that their development is
intertwined with the growing number of participating countries and continually
involves numerous small developing countries. However, it also finds little evidence
that participation in global value chains by the Asia-Pacific countries translates into
their economic growth.
The next chapter investigates the various aspects of disciplines on industrial
subsidies. In this study, the author examines the effectiveness and insufficiencies of
disciplines of the industrial subsidies in the present provisions of the WTO
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCM Agreement). The
analysis is extended with suggestions aimed to strengthen the above-mentioned
disciplines, including potential solutions and forums to resume the disciplines’
effectiveness, based on what we have experienced in the last quarter of the century.
The last chapter in this part presents an overview of the other crucial global trend
that involves the changes and challenges in the area of cybersecurity. Firstly, the
authors described the evolution of the cybersecurity concept in the context of
economic security. The conducted analysis reveals that cyberspace security has
already become a substantial determinant of economic security, since the information
and communication technologies irreversibly change fundamental areas of human,
entrepreneurial and institutional activities. Furthermore, the role of cybersecurity
that constitutes economic security nowadays was investigated both on international
and national levels. The authors conducted two case studies of the EU and Polish
cybersecurity systems and strategic approaches, which then allowed to offer their
insights towards the diverse cybersecurity issues, and provide recommendations in
the field of cooperation between various stakeholders.
