ABSTRACT
The economic crisis that hit East Asia in 1997 had various impacts on Asian regionalist impulses. Important among them was that it enhanced understanding of the region’s vulnerability to forces external to the region. It also led to a belief by many inside as well as outside the region that existing regional cooperation arrangements were unable to make an effective contribution to solving the problem. The worst of the crisis now appears to be over. There is a long way to go, of course, but a modest process of recovery is evident. Japan’s own economic crisis, significant for the region, also shows some signs of bottoming out, if not yet recovering.
