ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the governance structures and the set of normative and ideational constructs outlined by Jayasuriya. One of the most interesting developments in East Asia has been the launching of the East Asian Summit in December 2005. Spearheaded by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), this decision to create yet another layer of multilateral arrangement in the region came just two years after ASEAN announced its vision of an ASEAN Community by the year 2020, at its 9th ASEAN Summit in 2003. Jayasuriya and Grugel’s observations are very pertinent when one starts to peel of the layers of the multi-forms of regional groupings that have emerged in East Asia. Grugel, in particular, draws attention to issues of participation and inclusion by non-state actors in the myriad regional processes that are taking place. ASEAN’s notion of a secure region has always been the twin pursuit of economic security and political stability.
