Asia's Regional Architecture
Alliances and Institutions in the Pacific Century
Published by: Stanford University Press
Series: Studies in Asian Security
by Andrew Yeo
Published by: Stanford University Press
Series: Studies in Asian Security
During the Cold War, the U.S. built a series of alliances with Asian nations to erect a bulwark against the spread of communism and provide security to the region. Despite pressure to end bilateral alliances in the post-Cold War world, they persist to this day, even as new multilateral institutions have sprung up around them. The resulting architecture may aggravate rivalries as the U.S., China, and others compete for influence. However, Andrew Yeo demonstrates how Asia's complex array of bilateral and multilateral agreements may ultimately bring greater stability and order to a region fraught with underlying tensions.
Asia's Regional Architecture transcends traditional international relations models. It investigates change and continuity in Asia through the lens of historical institutionalism. Refuting claims regarding the demise of the liberal international order, Yeo reveals how overlapping institutions can promote regional governance and reduce uncertainty in a global context. In addition to considering established institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, he discusses newer regional arrangements including the East Asia Summit, Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Belt and Road Initiative. This book has important implications for how policymakers think about institutional design and regionalism in Asia and beyond.
This chapter presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the development of Asia's regional architecture. Drawing on historical institutionalism, the chapter discusses how endogenous processes of change, as well as mechanisms of continuity, have produced a layering of bilateral, trilateral, mini-lateral, and multilateral institutions in Asia. The chapter also discusses the limitations of theories of rational institutional design, and the role ideas and institutions play in shaping actors' choices.
Chapter 2 recounts the origins of bilateralism in Asia and the legitimization of the US-led hub-and-spokes system among Asian elites during the Cold War. It also outlines the rise of ASEAN in the 1960s. Exploring postwar US alliances forged with the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Thailand, I demonstrate how material threats, institutions, and ideas interact to produce an alliance consensus among political elites in Asia. Despite periodic domestic opposition to US alliances, and the weakness of ASEAN, the hub-and-spokes system and ASEAN become entrenched over time.
This chapter demonstrates elements of change and continuity in Asia's regional architecture between the waning years of the Cold War and the Asian financial crisis. Despite the external shock of the Cold War, I argue that the path to change is best captured by endogenous processes of change where mechanisms of change and continuity intersect. The first part of the chapter chronicles the development of two multilateral institutions: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the ASEAN Regional Forum. The second part demonstrates the continuity of bilateral alliances, focusing on the US-Japan and US-Philippines alliance.
Chapter 4 describes the rising phenomena of East Asian regionalism in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and demonstrates how debates between inclusive and exclusive variations of Asian regionalism played out in the development of the regional architecture. The chapter traces the establishment of the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit, and the Six-Party Talks. Taken together, these three institutions signified greater political will behind regional multilateralism but also revealed the contentious nature of institution building. The discussion of multilateral developments is juxtaposed to an analysis of the US–South Korea and US-Thailand alliances, and their resilience in an era of greater multilateralism and expanding regionalism.
This chapter demonstrates how the complex patchwork of overlapping institutions in Asia is largely a product of historical institutional processes. Between bilateralism and multilateralism, a variety of mini-laterals, preferential trade agreements, and track II dialogues have grown to become an important part of the institutional landscape. Policy makers turned to these additional informal outlets to advance regional economic and security goals. The chapter describes US alliance relationships with Australia and the Philippines during the period of the US pivot to Asia, as well as the growth of new security partnerships with Singapore and Vietnam. It also explores trilateral relations and the rise of multilateral trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Chapter 6 explores developments in Asia's regional architecture under the Trump government and the rising influence of China under Xi Jinping. The chapter draws explicit connections between Asia's current regional architecture and the future of Asian order. It makes the case that institutions in Asia, particularly US bilateral alliances, are more resilient than presumed. It then draws on the historical institutionalism and regime complexity literatures to describe how the complex patchwork both complicates and advances institutional cooperation. The chapter concludes by offering a more optimistic outlook regarding the complex patchwork and its potential for improving regional governance.
Chapter 7 recaps the book's finding that processes of continuity and change have occurred simultaneously, transforming an under-institutionalized region into a complex patchwork of overlapping institutions. The chapter then draws lessons from historical institutionalism for international relations theory and its significance for Asia policy and strategy. The book concludes with recommendations for US policy makers given rising tensions in US-Sino relations and potential institutional competition between Beijing and Washington. In particular, it advocates policy makers to adopt a zero-sum framework and continue building and supporting the regional architecture in ways which reinforce, but also look beyond its bilateral alliances.
Andrew Yeo is Associate Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.
"Andrew Yeo has written an informed, nuanced, and vivid account of Asia's regional architecture. His historical institutionalist framework captures well the richness and diversity of efforts at cooperation among regional actors. A welcome and significant contribution to the literature." ~Victor D. Cha, D.S. Song-KF Professor and Chairholder, School of Foreign Service and Government Department, Georgetown University
"This innovative and important book puts changes in Asia's regional architecture into a broad historical and institutional perspective. In an era of unilateral transactional American diplomacy, Andrew Yeo reminds us of how and why the complex patchwork of past bilateral and multilateral security and economic arrangements will shape our and Asia's future." ~Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University
"Andrew Yeo offers a rich account of how Asia's security and economic architecture has evolved since 1945. Asia's Regional Architecture convincingly explains stability and change, and the eclectic approach ties all the empirical evidence together." ~Ralf Emmers, Professor and Associate Dean at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University
"Yeo has written a book with indisputable value for understanding international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 'big tent' approach to theoretically analyzing historical events also should appeal to a range of scholars and policymakers. With Asia's centrality to many events in global politics, Yeo's research should find its way onto the bookshelves of regional specialists, scholars of both alliance politics and international institutions, and students with an interest in learning about the complexities of Asian diplomacy." ~Stephen Herzog, H-Diplo
"[Bilateralism] and multilateralism in Asia have been extensively researched since the end of the Cold War....Yeo contributes to the literature by bringing all of this material together and analyzing it through the application of a less well-known conceptual framework—historical institutionalism. To my knowledge, this has never before been attempted, making the book both original and innovative. The end result is that Asia's Regional Architecture takes a long-term view that enriches the existing analysis and provides a sense of perspective." ~Ralph Emmers, Asia Policy
"Yeo offers a discussion that, more than most, tries to account for Asia's different moving parts....Asia's Regional Architecture is a worthwhile contribution to the debate about Asian security and especially the U.S. role in the region." ~Alice D. Ba, Asia Policy
[Yeo] provides detailed yet succinct accounts of the main political, economic, and security regional institutions in Asia. A plethora of insights are contained in this book....[Its] broad definition of institutions—ranging from ASEAN-led regional multilateral frameworks to U.S.-led bilateral security alliances—opens up new research questions regarding the interactive dynamics within regional institutions." ~Kei Koga, Asia Policy
"Asia's Regional Architecture provides a comprehensive and timely account of the evolution, development, and operation of the various institutions that compose the region's security architecture....Yeo's use of historical institutionalism makes this text a coherent, dynamic, and theoretically insightful account of the beginning, development, and future of Asia's architecture." ~Renato Cruz de Castro, Asia Policy
"Yeo offers a refreshing perspective through the use of the historical-institutionalist framework....This book should be required reading, not only for students, analysts and experts of East Asian affairs, but also for present and future US administration officials to understand the consequential role the US has played and will continue to play in the East Asian order and for regional stability." ~Bhubhindar Singh, Asian Studies Review
"Yeo's book serves as an outstanding primer on how the institutional landscape developed the way it did and why. It is an absolutely essential addition to the literature on regionalism and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific, and comes highly recommended for students, scholars, and practitioners alike." ~Thomas Wilkins, Pacific Affairs
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