ABSTRACT
The record of institutional development and achievement in the AsiaPacific thus far has been modest at best. True, there have been a number of important institutional initiatives, of which ASEAN is arguably the most enduring and perhaps the most important, but they have generally not had a major influence on the conduct of inter-state relations. Whether the focus has been on economic integration or security cooperation, the impact of regional institutions seems rather limited, although we need to acknowledge that such influences are possibly subtle and thus difficult to quantify. The diffusion of norms and the processes of socialization and learning associated with institutions are notoriously difficult to capture, and it is easy to underestimate the long-term impact such organizations may have in shifting perceptions and improving relations between members.1 What we can say with some confidence is that the operational styles and circumscribed agendas of extant institutions necessarily limit their immediate potential impact: extreme sensitivity about national sovereignty has meant that the very continuation of any institution has been partly dependent on its not threatening national autonomy. Given the limited track record of institutions with either an East
Asian or an Asia-Pacific identity, therefore, it is perhaps surprising that organizations like ASEAN, APEC or the ARF carry on at all, let alone provide a template for further institutional development. Paradoxically enough, however, the number of institutional initiatives, especially in East Asia, has actually expanded of late. Indeed, in some ways the Asia-Pacific generally and East Asia in particular may be suffering from too much of a good thing as far as institutional innovation is concerned, as an array of organizations compete for influence and authority. Such cross-cutting claims to competence and representation might be a problem anywhere, but they are especially challenging in East Asia because of the limited bureaucratic capacities of some of the
newer nations of Southeast Asia. States like Cambodia and Laos have struggled to play a full and active role in the plethora of meetings associated with ASEAN; they threaten to be overwhelmed by the array of new organizations that currently fill the institutional horizon and the representational obligations they imply. Nevertheless, there are a number of potentially very significant institu-
tions taking shape in East Asia, which may ultimately reshape intraand inter-regional relations. These organizations may prove to be important not simply because of their possible functional role in addressing collective action problems,2 but because of the part they may play in actually helping to constitute and give a sense of identity to the region itself. The most important development in this regard has been the selfconscious exclusion of the United States from a number of recent institutional initiatives. Should this trend continue it will help to consolidate the idea of East Asia at the expense of the Asia-Pacific; it may also have important long-term geopolitical consequences and affect the relative standing of the U.S.A. and China. The most important of these new initiatives at this stage seems likely to be the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) grouping, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, in addition to the original ASEAN countries. Like ASEAN and APEC, APT was preceded by other attempts at institutional and political consolidation around a notion of East Asian identity, and before considering the APT grouping itself, this chapter analyses these earlier efforts. Following an examination of the APT, its origins and associated institutional offshoots, consideration is given to some of the other initiatives that have emerged recently. Even if it is not possible to be certain which of these organizations is likely to prove the most important, or what impact it is likely to have, the continuing interest in institutional development suggests that such processes are likely to prove significant parts of the region-however it is defined.
