ABSTRACT
A staff report on the Study group has been published by CSIS. It is entitled "The Emerging Pacific Community Concepts: An American Perspective." The Pacific Basin has become an informal "community," united by the high rates of intraregional trade. The Pacific Basin countries are seeking to diversify their energy sources in two ways. First, they are trying to lessen their dependence on the Middle East as a supplier of oil by increasing their purchases of oil from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and, to a much lesser extent, China. Second, they are looking to other forms of energy. Coal and natural gas are obvious examples, but also geothermal energy, shale oil, and tar sands. These are some of the general regional concerns that make the Pacific Community concept desirable. The United States also has strategic considerations at stake in the Pacific Basin. The most prominent membership dilemma involves China.
