01 April 1999
WP002 | Multilateral Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region: Prospects and Possibilities
Abstract
This paper seeks to (i) describe the achievements with respect to the institutionalisation of multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific since 1992; (ii) provide a critical assessment of this progress; (iii) consider some of the principal problems affecting the process; (iv) provide some net assessment of the achievements to date and what this suggests for the future; and (v) outline an agenda for action. It acknowledges the extraordinary progress of the institutionalisation of multilateral security cooperation between 1992-97 but it also sees this process as losing momentum by 1997. Establishing mechanisms for dialogue and institutionalising a region-wide confidence-building process were fundamentally important achievements of the first five-year period, but they were relatively easy undertakings when compared to more substantive activities such as preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution or arms control.
Abstract
This paper seeks to (i) describe the achievements with respect to the institutionalisation of multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific since 1992; (ii) provide a critical assessment of this progress; (iii) consider some of the principal problems affecting the process; (iv) provide some net assessment of the achievements to date and what this suggests for the future; and (v) outline an agenda for action. It acknowledges the extraordinary progress of the institutionalisation of multilateral security cooperation between 1992-97 but it also sees this process as losing momentum by 1997. Establishing mechanisms for dialogue and institutionalising a region-wide confidence-building process were fundamentally important achievements of the first five-year period, but they were relatively easy undertakings when compared to more substantive activities such as preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution or arms control.
