US Strategy towards East Asia Economic Cooperation

The aim of this article is to analyze US strategy towards economic integration in the East Asia, which excludes the United States. In last few years, East Asia is witnessing the emergence of several trade blocs and many ambitious initiatives implying closer integration in East Asia. This new regionalism reflects a process of convergence based on unilateral reform efforts. Currently, China bears the costs associated with providing political and diplomatic resources needed to establish this economic integration. In response to the China-led evolution of an East Asia trading block, the US strategy is to speed up, discreetly, the conclusion of bilateral free trade treaties with some East Asian countries. The reasons for this strategy are the long-term distrust by the US of multilateral cooperation in East Asia, the need for support from China in fighting terrorism, and the need for counter-terrorism cooperation from ASEAN. Basically, current US strategy continues to consistently reflect US strategic and economic interests but is limited by the need for Chinese support against terrorism.