Flexible processes for integration in East Asia

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) toasts with ASEAN leaders and dialogue partners (R) at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders gala dinner in Hanoi, Vietnam, 29 October 2010. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Jiro Okamoto, ANU

Mechanisms for political and economic integration and cooperation activities in East Asia have taken on a highly flexible character in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Rather than moving toward a coordinated ‘grand design’ of regional integration, the region has shifted toward a dynamic ad hoc method of integration based on diverse policy preferences and within the constraints of extra-regional partnerships. Read more…