East Asian Cooperation without Regionalism

Abstract: The debate over difficulties faced in the development of an East Asian Regionalism has shifted away from its traditional focus on the internal differences between Asian states and external barriers imposed by the United States to consider institutional variables.Despite this shift, both camps universally accept the notion of an East Asian Regionalism.In contrast, this paper argues that cooperation in and of itself does not imply regionalism, and that regional cooperation often occurs in absence of regionalism.It systematically redefines the concept of regionalism, drawing a distinction between regionalism and regional cooperation, and in doing so, questions the very existence of an East Asian regionalism.It asserts a preliminary framework for measuring whether or not regionalism exists which includes three indicators, and applies this framework to consider the objectives and roots of East Asian regional cooperation, institutions and modes of cooperation and external factors.It argues that regionalism does not exist at the regional level in East Asia.As China continues to rise and proactively seeks to establish a new type of great power relationship with the United States, a Trans- Pacific regionalism will likely emerge

About the Author: Mo Shengkai is a MA student in the School of International Studies at China Renmin University