ABSTRACT
Any discussion of security co-operation between East Asia and the West is bound to be more speculative than practical at the present stage of the evolution of the concept of Western security. For, given the differences between East Asian and Atlantic (North American and West European) security which this chapter tries to underline, a practical basis for such co-operation hardly exists, if, indeed, it exists at all. Looking towards the future, however, there appears to be a greater need for security co-operation between the countries of the Atlantic Alliance and the free-world nations in East Asia. The global expansion of Soviet military capability and the increased possibility of interaction between European and Asian security already underline the need for co-operation. There are already similarities between the security circumstances of the NATO countries and those of certain East Asian nations: first, the Soviet Union is a primary source of military threat; second, alliance with the US is the mainstay of security.
