ABSTRACT
Are the principal regional organizations in the East Asian and Asia Pacific regions moribund or verging on it? Any casual observer o f the international relations o f the two - overlapping - regions could be forgiven nowadays for so thinking. The majority o f current commentaries on and analyses o f ASEAN (Association o f Southeast Asian Nations) and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) seem to agree that both organizations are afflicted by a serious malaise. Even the organizations’ champions are, for the most part, defensive in their analyses o f the organizations’ recent accomplishments and current health.
