Can regional and interregional mechanisms better institutionalize the increasing complexity of economic and security ties among the nations in Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia? As the international state system undergoes dramatic changes in both security and trade relations in the wake of the end of the Cold War, the Asian financial crisis, and the attacks of 9-11, this question is now uppermost in the minds of both academics and policymakers. Still, little research has been done to integrate the analysis of security and economic analysis of changes in the region within a broader context that will give us theoretically-informed policy insights. We believe that an academically informed approach to the links between trade and security institutions and issues, guided by input from civil society groups and government officials, will give us a unique perspective on the types of institutional solutions that may be feasible in Asia. In doing so, our hope is to provide policymakers and analysts with an institutional road map that lies ahead.
The results of this project were published in Asia’s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Structures for Managing Trade, Financial and Security Relations (2007), available for purchase at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.