Regional Integration Study Group
Long-term Prospects for Regional Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region andJapanese Diplomacy

October 1, 2010

[Research Overview]
Recent years have seen rising interest in an “East Asia Community” and “East Asiancooperation.”

Efforts to form regional regimes in the Asia-Pacific have been diverse,

however, and have not converged on “East Asia.”

A variety of regional regimes have been

formed in the Asia-Pacific region, and the development of new regional regimes is being
discussed. Progress is being made in forming a complex and intricate web of regionalregimes.

Power relations among Asian states have undergone transformation as their economic
interdependence grows.

While smoothly maintaining mutual economic interdependence

and achieving economic development within regional production and sales networks, all ofthese states are endeavoring to adapt to the greater fluidity in the region’s international
relations on which the change in power relations among states will likely have an impact.
The countries of the region are pursuing a range of external strategies – e.g., engagement,
containment, balancing and risk hedging – in the midst of changing international relations.
Reflecting this fluidity in international relations, the countries of Asia have favored
participating simultaneously in a variety of bilateral and multilateral regimes over closely
involving themselves with specific countries or regional regimes, even as they seek tosecure their economic interests and prepare themselves for future changes and risks.
They are also participating in certain regimes in order to constrain efforts by third countries
and other regional regimes, while at the same time participating in regional regimes that
include third countries in order to secure their own immediate economic and securityinterests. Bilateral, trilateral, sub-regional, Asia-Pacific and East Asian regional regimes
are being formed in the Asia-Pacific against the backdrop of these political and economic
considerations.

Moves toward East Asian cooperation and an East Asian Community, too,are closely tied to such diplomatic strategies.

It will more than likely take considerable time for international relations in Asia to stabilize
and an established structure to emerge in the region’s international relations.

In otherwords, intricate regime building in the region is expected to continue for some time.
Consequently, Japan needs to make diplomatic efforts to help steer the formation of thisweb of complex and intricate regional regimes in a direction that promotes Japan’s owninterests.

It is important to Japan that the countries of the Asia-Pacific region transition topolitical systems that respect democracy and human rights and enhance their political,
economic and social systems through greater transparency and accountability.

It would

also be in Japan’s interests for the countries of the region to harmonize their domesticeconomic systems with international standards.

What policies should Japanese diplomacy

in Asia adopt toward these ends?

To pursue meaningful diplomatic activities in Asia, Japan must first gain an accurate
understanding of the dynamics of regional regimes in Asia.

Equipped with such anunderstanding, it must then determine the approaches to regional regimes in Asia (regionalarchitecture) most desirable for Japan as well as the measures needed to implement theseapproaches.

Realizing Japan’s aims will require precise knowledge of the countries withwhich it should cooperate, the factors to be considered in doing so, the diplomatic assets at
Japan’s disposal, etc.

The diplomatic processes pertaining to regional regimes are

dynamic and intricate, and hence multifaceted thinking will be required.

The purpose ofthis project is to bring together leading Japanese researchers in this field to participate indeveloping and presenting answers on these issues.

[Project Plan]

The first study group meeting was held on July 7, 2010, the second on July 21, and the thirdon August 18.

Outside lecturers were invited to participate in the discussions during thefourth (September 7) and fifth (September 30) meetings.
group meetings once or twice each month.

Plans are to hold future study

The study group will also conduct interviews

and overseas surveys on a timely basis as necessary.

A report to be broadly disseminatedto the general public will be compiled for publication sometime around the end of March
2011.

[Study Group Members]Group Leader
YAMAKAGE Susumu (Dean and Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
University of Tokyo)

2

Group Members
YAMAMOTO Yoshinobu (Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University; Professor Emeritus,
University of Tokyo)
KIKUCHI Tsutomu (Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University; Research Fellow, Japan Instituteof International Affairs)
OYANE Satoshi (Professor, Faculty of Law, Doshisha University)
KATADA Saori (Associate Professor, University of Southern California)
OBA Mie (Associate Professor, Tokyo University of Science)Group Members and Secretaries
HATASA Nobuhide (Research Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs)
FUKUDA Tamotsu (Research Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs)3