Institutionalizing Northeast Asia: Regional Steps Towards Global Governance

With the threat of a nuclear North Korea, constant tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and growing posturing over resource-rich territories, how can lasting peace, order, stability, and prosperity be achieved in Northeast Asia? Globalization and China's galloping economy have caused radically different economic growth rates, resulting in constant fluctuations in the balance of power among the nations of Northeast Asia. With new emerging threats to security as well as those posed by environmental degradation and disasters, the old concept of sovereign independence no longer offers satisfactory solutions for Northeast Asia. Alternatives are needed that provide more plausible answers to the region's emerging challenges. Institutionalizing Northeast Asia advances the notion of regional institutionalism as a counterweight to the principle of sovereignty. The contributors argue that cooperation through regional institution-building is the best way to deal with the growing intertwinement of global issues and developments and the needs and interests at the regional and national levels. A unified regional voice could also answer the demand for supra-territorial policy responses to such issues as trade, finance, the environment, human rights, and human security.