Thailand Information Center

Explores the prospects and challenges for ASEAN+ X forums: ASEAN+1, +3, +8 (or the East Asian Summit). Examines the U.S.'s new appetite for Asia-Pacific minilateralism centered on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). Reviews the security-embedded economic relations during the Cold War period under the U.S. hegemonic leadership and explains East Asia's responses to the de-securitization of U.S economic policy in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Analyzes the rivalry between China and Japan, and the ambivalence of the U.S. on the other that led to ASEAN+ X membership issues. Investigates the U.S.'s latest re-engagement in East Asia in a context of re-securitizing its economic policy and its implications for the future of ASEAN+ X framework.