Stanford Kyoto Trans-Asian Dialogue 2010 final report available

2010Sep10MacIntyrePublicPanelLOGO Ton Nu Thi Ninh, president of Triet-Vet University, and Andrew MacIntyre, dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at Australian National University, during a moderated public discussion at Shorenstein APARC’s annual Stanford Kyoto Trans-Asian Dialogue in September 2010.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and with the advent of a new Japanese government, the long-simmering concept of an East Asian Community has come to a boil. Trilateral discussions among China, Japan, and South Korea--the "Plus Three"--have accelerated, including early steps toward formation of a trilateral free trade area. The Obama administration has responded with new interest in regionalism, including discussion of new trans-Pacific trade agreements and a bid to join the budding East Asia Summit process. In November 2010, the trans-Pacific APEC convened in Japan, and the next annual meeting, in 2011, will take place in Hawaii.

This period could shape the future of regionalism in East Asia, but many questions have yet to be answered. On September 9 and 10, 2010, the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University convened the second Stanford Kyoto Trans-Asian Dialogue. This distinguished gathering discussed the latest research into the course of regionalism across several dimensions: regional vs. trans-Pacific trade and production networks; traditional and nontraditional security; the intersection of historical memories and national cultures in forging, or thwarting, a new regional identity; and possible futures for the regional order and how it might interact with other transnational institutions. The final summary report from this event is now available online.