ABSTRACT
In spring 1994, the United States Committee of the Council on Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (USCSCAP) formed a task force on confidence and security building measures (CSBM) with some purposes in mind. The USCSCAP task force wishes to add its voice to those opposing a formal, comprehensive, region wide transparency mechanism analogous to the CSCE. Alliances and security guarantees play an important role, especially in Northeast Asia, in providing both confidence and security. The ambitious beginning should provide the impetus for a gradual implementation of a more ambitious CSBM agenda within the region in the context of larger diplomatic and political strategies to promote regional security. In the United States, Europe, and South Asia, nongovernmental organizations have emerged as generators of new thinking about problems of international security. States of the region face a common challenge in maintaining the security of the sea lines of communication and the general safety of the maritime environment.
