Multilateralism
Is There an Asia-Pacific Way?

Multilateralism is a marked feature of post-Cold War international relations in the Asia-Pacific region. At the governmental level, the major landmarks in institution-building are the inauguration of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 1989 and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July 1994.1 In addition to the emergence of these formal institutions, there has been a rapid proliferation of multilateral “dialogues” both at governmental2 and nongovernmental (Track II) levels. While nongovernmental dialogues on economic issues, such as the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Basin Economic Council, have a long history in the region, consultations on political and security issues are fairly new and have experienced the most dramatic growth in number and scope. For example, while there were three or four trans-Pacific channels for discussion on political and security issues in 1989, by the second half of 1995 there were well over sixty. The establishment of fora such as the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP) and the APEC Business Advisors Council (formerly called the Pacific Business Forum) attest to the growing demand for, and acceptance of, multilateralism in regional security and economic issues.