Conclusion

Abstract

In the new millennium, states in East Asia intensified cooperation to advance collectively the overall interests of the region and respond to common challenges and risks. The previous chapters have examined the process of regional institution-building in specific policy fields: trade, agriculture, finance, energy, and the environment. In all cases policymakers in East Asia reached an agreement to launch formal institutions to tackle specific issues of a cross-national nature, and engaged in the subsequent development of these institutions. The original institutions were launched in the early 2000s and advanced institutions were created nearly ten years later in most cases. In the process of institution-building, four parties — China, Japan, South Korea, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — performed complicated political interactions in order to reflect their preferences and concerns on the genesis, design, and evolution of the institutions.