ASEAN's Cooperative Security Enterprise

Does the cooperative security enterprise of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) matter? If so, in what sense? Can the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) be regarded as one of the pathways to regional security in Asia? Most students of Asian security regard the ARF as a useless 'talking shop' in which no significant measure to achieve security has been instituted. However, this book demonstrates that something interesting is taking place inside this talking shop. It shows that an association of minor powers in Southeast Asia is promoting its cooperative security norm, thereby influencing the policies of its external partners, such as China, the US and Australia. The overarching conclusion of this book is that ASEAN's cooperative security enterprise does matter, and the ARF is an important pathway to regional security. Such a conclusion suggests that ASEAN's cooperative security enterprise is a reasonable model for security cooperation in an East Asian community.

ISBN 0230229298   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780230229297 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 369 Publisher Palgrave Macmillan   Published in Basingstoke Imprint Palgrave Macmillan   Series title Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific Format Hardback   Height (mm) 222 Publication date 20 Jan 2010   Width (mm) 141 DEWEY 327.1160959   Spine width (mm) 18 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Tertiary education Pages 224

		List of Figures and Table
		Abbreviations
Pt. I		Introduction and Main Propositions
1		Introduction		3
2		The Significance of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)		16
Pt. II		ASEAN's Initiative
3		The Conventional Explanation for the Establishment of the ARF		37
4		An Idea-focused Explanation for the Establishment of the ARF		49
5		ASEAN in the ARF		77
Pt. III		External Powers in the ARF
6		China		101
7		The United States		119
8		Australia		138
Pt. IV		Conclusion
9		East Asia and the Asia-Pacific		161
		References		174
		Index		199

Katsumata's book offers a thorough investigation and valuable insights into ... questions which are critical to any understanding of contemporary Asian security order...[the] book is an important counterpoint to the conventional realist view of international and regional institutions as mere adjuncts of balance of power dynamics. His rejection of the view of the ARF as a mere 'talking shop' will both provoke and persuade. Combining valuable empirical research and tight argumentation, Katsumata systematically demonstrates the effects of the ARF on the US, China, and Australia. His book offers several interesting insights into how the region's two major players, the US and China, came to accept the ARF from an initial posture of skepticism and even rejection...He has emerged as the best Japanese scholar on the ARF, and his work is sure to be regarded as one of the most important contributions to Asia Pacific security multilateralism - From the foreword by Amitav Acharya, Professor of International Relations, American University, Washington DC, USA

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