Throughout much of its history, critics have argued that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is purposeless. They allege the group has become too big and diverse to take meaningful collective action. The grand designs drawn up a decade ago have lost urgency, overtaken by events and new priorities. The annual leaders' summit has become a photo opportunity, more useful because of the bilateral meetings that occur on the sidelines rather than any declaration they sign off on at the final session. More recently, they worry that APEC's focus -- economics -- has been eclipsed by the U.S. concern about security and the war on terrorism.
The meeting that concluded last weekend in Santiago, Chile, will not quiet the critics. U.S. President George W. Bush continues to push his security agenda -- from trying to halt nuclear proliferation by North Korea and Iran to fighting terrorism. They are also likely to complain that the final declaration nodded in the right directions -- "urging" progress in the multilateral World Trade Organization talks and "endorsing" the fight against corruption -- but made little progress in those efforts.
Looking only at the leaders' summit is a mistake. Much of the real work in APEC occurs at the ministerial and working group levels, which meet throughout the year and put those lofty declarations into practice. The leaders' statements provide direction for the group. To expect more of them is unrealistic.