An Analysis Of East Asia Policy Of Obama Administration

Multilateralism is a major concept in the modern academia of internationalrelations. Since the end of World War II, the world has become more open andinstitutionalized, deepening the interdependent relations among different countries.International organizations, treaties, agreements, and mechanisms have increasinglymushroomed, paving the way for the multilateral regional cooperation in East Asia.Since the1997financial crisis, developments in East Asian regionalism haveprogressed rapidly, leading to the advancement of institutions and mechanisms suchas ASEAN, ASEAN+3, APEC, ARF, and East Asia Summit, etc. Through theseforums, the relevant issues facing the region are being addressed. However, no singleinstitution has a mandate to comprehensively address both economic and strategicchallenges.Multilateralism has played an important part in the US foreign policy after WWII.Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has readjusted its foreign policy, andEast Asia has become more strategically important. In particular, after the breakout ofthe global financial crisis in2008, the US started to accelerated its policy adjustmenton East Asia, and its multilateral East Asia policies are taking shape. The major tacticsof the US engagement are institutionalizing ties with ASEAN, developing mini-lateralmechanisms with Asian countries, and promoting Asia-Pacific integration.From a general perspective, it is widely held that the US multilateral engagementin East Asia, together with its “Pivot to Asia” strategy, is particularly targeted at therising China. This can be better demonstrated through the US engagement in thedisputes on the South and East China Seas. The US engagement and its enhancedpresence has caused a change in the regional architecture of East Asia, with the USand China counterbalancing each other. Moreover, by expanding East Asianintegration into the Asia Pacific region, the US will have more leverage in shaping thefuture development path of the region, bringing more uncertainties to the regionalcooperation.