ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the consequences of the Asian economic crisis for Asian regionalism. It suggests that possible explanations for the changes in Asian regionalism after the crisis. The chapter examines the nature of the new wave of Asian regionalism. The most important initiative in East Asian regionalism came from Malaysia. Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia proposed an East Asian Economic Group in 1990, which consisted of Association of South East Asian Nations, Korea, Japan, and China. Although the roots of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation date back to the mid-1960s, there had been no discernible movement toward East Asian regionalism until the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation was launched in Australia in 1989. The efforts of the USA have been paid off and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) became the major instrument for liberalizing the Asian economies. APEC, unlike other regional blocs, had adopted the principle of open regionalism.
