Date: July 8-9, 2010

Venue: Grand Ballroom, Westin Chosun Seoul

Introduction

Asia’s presence in the world is more profound than ever. Yet major challenges remain with both inherent traditional security disputes and emerging non-traditional security issues threatening the economic achievements of the last decades. In Asia, countries face uncertainties with the rise of two major powers China and India while old and new problems exist due to unresolved historical disputes and resource shortages. Growing economic ties need to be reflected through enhanced regional cooperation to maintain peace and security. In recognition of this, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation launched the Asia Security Initiative in 2009 to help policy institutions play a key role in the region, improve regional cooperation, and devise new thinking on current and future security challenges.

On July 7-9, 2010, the second Annual Meeting of the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative (MASI) was held in Seoul, South Korea. The East Asia Institute, as one of three core institutions, organized this event to bring together the thirty-five institutions within the MASI network. While the first Annual Meeting held in May 2009 focused on launching the program, the 2010 meeting was more about coordinating activities, sharing ideas, and engaging in substantive discussions on the major issues shaping and affecting the region. With three different research clusters across the MASI network focused on divergent issues of both traditional and non-traditional security, two topics were selected that reflect the different research interests.

The impact of the Global Economic Crisis continues to be felt, with adjustments in global and regional governance as part of the long-term economic recovery. On the other hand, discussions on the East Asian Community have become active recently to resolve functional problems and enhance confidence-building in the region. These two topics “Post-Crisis Global and Regional Order” and “East Asian Community” were the base of discussions in the conference. In the 2010 Annual Meeting, two research groups focused on one of the two topics and developed some critical policy recommendations.

In the Post-Crisis world, the Asia region is taking the lead in economic recovery while playing crucial roles in nuclear non-proliferation and climate change. Despite the fact that the United States is no longer as dominant in Asia, it still plays a crucial role through its alliances with Japan and South Korea, as well as its strategic partnerships with China and India. As has been remarked before by President Barack Obama, the United States and Asia are not divided by the Pacific but rather bounded by it. In this Post-Crisis global order, middle powers like Australia, Indonesia, and South Korea will play stronger roles, while rising powers like China and India will take on new regional and global responsibilities.

It is clear that the role of Asia is critical for the world, but the goal of an East Asian Community remains fragmented. Enhancing regional cooperation remains the main challenge for overcoming inherited suspicion and lasting mistrust. While issues such as the Cheonan incident reveal differences between countries toward North Korea, the unity among Asian states in implementing sanctions against Pyongyang in the wake of its nuclear test in May 2009 indicates a degree of growing security cooperation. On the economic front, the signing of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement shows cooperation improving in other important areas. The next stage will be to transform these contacts into a wider and deeper cooperative network. At the same time, questions need to be addressed on the identity, scope, and purpose of a regional community.

The challenges for the region are complex and vast that often involves more than one country. In this new order, nations can no longer tackle problems unilaterally. Issues such as the North Korea nuclear crisis and water security in the Himalayan River Basin require comprehensive solutions through close cooperation with involved parties and related countries. This meeting provides the venue for discussion and sharing of ideas on how the Asia region will develop in the Post-Crisis era internationally, regionally, and internally. Freed from the bipolar divisions of the Cold War, no longer in a unipolar world dominated by the United States, Asia is now in a stronger position to frame its future.

Executive Summary

The MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Annual Meeting 2010 consisted of two research groups, Group 1 and 2, holding two sessions each to discuss “Post-Crisis Global and Regional Governance” and “East Asian Community” respectively. From the presentations and subsequent discussion, a number of important policy recommendations have been formulated on the main issues for Asia as follows:

China’s importance is growing, but the G-2 remains premature

The G-2 remains a distant idea and possibly not even suited to the current global order. Even regionally, trilateralism has been more effective, although regional institutions must cooperate more closely with the United States which will continue to be important in East Asia. More dialogue and understanding between all countries are required to make China’s rise peaceful.

G-20 serves Asia well, but needs to be strengthened
The G-20 has been good for the middle powers in Asia who can play a key role in facilitating the discussions and coordinating diverging interests between developed and newly emerging countries. Still, the G-20 has not been formalized and will need to be strengthened if it is to address the main challenges in the Post-Crisis era.

A balance is needed between institutional legitimacy and efficiency
In building international institutions in the new global order, the right balance must be found between legitimacy and efficiency. The future global order must be based on a fair representation of emerging nations and established ones.

Discussion needed on regional identity
The different perceptions of the Asia region have resulted in a lack of consistent identity. Whether it is East Asia, Asia, or Asia-Pacific, there are some gaps in the formation of an regional identity that need to be addressed. Discussion on this topic will help toward developing a regional architecture to cope with the new challenges.

Security challenges require multilateral cooperation
Unilateral solutions to the region’s security challenges will not work. Both traditional and non-traditional security threats are trans-national challenges that will require cooperation and support from multiple countries. Non-traditional security challenges have been easier for nations to cooperate with, but the lingering traditional security threats in the region make enhanced cooperation more difficult.

Financial cooperation is strong, but security cooperation needs to be upgraded
The region has seen growing financial cooperation, with strong foundations in place that show a community in action. These institutions will lead the way to further cooperation in the region on other related issues. However, the lack of security cooperation is an area that needs more focus.

Strong political leadership is crucial
Taking the initiative for regional integration and establishing an East Asian Community requires strong political leadership since choices for the community and interdependence are conscious political decisions. The commitment of leadership in providing financial support and collective goods is crucial and the countries need to be more open for negotiation and compromise. Governments should understand that the ideal conditions for regionalism or community is not power or interest based logic but multilateralism, enhancing functional cooperation and mitigating competitions.

Common values and shared identity need to be fostered
East Asia has different levels of actors representing each region so sharing similar value is necessary to have closer relationship in the region and to build East Asian Community. Also, we need to develop common frame of reference so the integration can be focused to the common purpose with greater sense of interdependence.

The community building process must include non-traditional security issues
Not only traditional security issues but also non-traditional security issues concerning environment, energy, disasters, diseases, and refugees should be dealt with through regional cooperation. Governments need to prevent traditional security challenges from undermining cooperation on non-traditional security issues and engage more vigorously on how to approach these issues effectively.

Role of civil society should not be neglected
Civil society organizations and actors not only contribute to building a shared identity, but also provide a framework for integration and deepen cooperation among the public. Governments must recognize such their significant role and cultivate a new culture of cooperation through their networking power.