ABSTRACT
East Asian security in the short term has been dominated by the crisis in North Korea. In the medium and longer term there are worries about Chinese intentions, the risks of a regional arms race, and uncertainty about the implications of domestic developments in Japan. North Korea’s continued refusal fully to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency demands for full inspections of its suspect sites has meant that concern over the risk of conflict in North-east Asia is at its highest for many years. Notwithstanding the continuing global recession, economic performance in the region was again significantly better than elsewhere in the world. In 1993, defence expenditure increased again – albeit not at the rate of economic growth. East Asia and Australasia account for some 15% of global defence spending – the highest regional proportion apart from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
