1.   Countries splinter, regional trading blocs grow, the global economy becomes ever more interconnected.

2.   Formation of regional party bloc Five regional autonomy parties moved towards forming a political bloc under the leadership of the Lombardy League.

3.   One of the major methods of achieving a regional economic bloc is to create a Customs Union.

4.   After just six years, the WTO could find itself eclipsed by regional trading blocs in Asia, Europe and North and South America.

5.   But the regional trading blocs have not emerged.

6.   But when pressed, they generally say that all regional blocs, NAFTA included, would be subsumed by the greater Free Trade Area and follow its rules.

7.   Countries would retreat into regional trading blocs, while old trade restrictions would stay in place.

8.   For various reasons, this system leads candidates to focus on regional blocs and to lavish attention on smaller states such as Washington or Alabama.

9.   Many analysts have hypothesized the emergence of three north-south regional blocs centered around Europe, Japan and the United States.

10.   Regional blocs like the European Union and rising powers like China seek to bend and twist the rules of free trade.