ABSTRACT
Since the Cold War various countries have expressed an interest in forging a regional community in East Asia. Their proposals have differed in the scope of the region, its functions and its leadership. Lately, the trilateral summit of China, Japan and South Korea has emerged as one principal entity pursuing this goal, but striking differences among these states demonstrate that a broader perspective is necessary to discern how the search for regionalism has been proceeding and where it might lead. By adding the United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India and Russia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to the picture and taking the impact of North Korea into account, we can probe more deeply into the rapidly changing quest for a multilateral framework.
