HONOLULU -- For generations, East Asia has been identified as a geographical entity -- it was a region on a map -- but it lacked a coherent identity beyond that. That is changing. East Asia is laying the foundation for an international presence that will rival that of the European Union. Last month's Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) meeting that followed reveal the core of the new Asia. Understanding the APT process is crucial to understanding Asia's rise and role in the future.
ASEAN Plus Three cooperation began in December 1997, when leaders of the ASEAN 10 joined an informal summit with their counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea. The process was institutionalized two years later.
Today, the ASEAN Plus Three process includes 48 mechanisms that coordinate 16 areas of cooperation, ranging from agriculture to information technologies. Parts of this effort, such as economic and financial cooperation, have earned headlines; much of it has not, however. Yet this often overlooked functional work is building habits of cooperation and creating a thickening weave of relationships that provides a political safety net for Asia.