ABSTRACT
The discussion about constructing an East Asian community seems to have lost its momentum in Japan in 2010, when the United States joined the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Peru. This chapter discusses the necessity and merit of constructing a community for East Asian countries, and explains the importance of having such a community in a legally binding institutional form. Globalisation has had a profound and growing effect on economic and political life in East Asia, as in Europe, since the latter half of the last century. It is often said that some unresolved political issues have kept the idea of an East Asian community unrealistic in this region. The prominent issues are, firstly, the territorial disputes among the states in the region, and secondly, the legacy of Cold War security frameworks.
