The United States, Asia, and “Convergent Security”

Abstract

WHEN the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) founded the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1993, it did so to secure the best of both worlds for ASEAN memberstates. The ARF helped create a “breathing space” needed to pursue an enduring AsiaPacific regional order based on multilateral norms. But any such quest was to be temporarily underwritten by American power extended to the region through its alliances. This approach has sometimes been described as “convergent security” – a progression from a regional security framework focused on bilateral structures to a framework increasingly focused on multilateral arrangements. Yet the shift from bilateral to multilateral security politics was always going to be difficult. Because bilateral security relations are inherently exclusivist, multilateral security politics has often been regarded by the US and its regional security partners as too unwieldy.