The Asian and global financial crises: consequences for East Asian regionalism

This article provides a comparative study of the consequences of the Asian and global financial crises for East Asian regionalism. It explains how and why the effects of the two crises on regional institutions were divergent. The differences derived from the origins of the two upheavals, internal versus external to the region, and from the depth of their impact on the affected countries. These generated contrasting expectations of how regional institutions might respond, which led in turn to diverse perceptions on the need for institutional change. The Asian financial crisis underscored the need for new overlapping arrangements capable of better defending the region against future financial instability. The less severe crisis affecting East Asia in 2008, in contrast, has led to a more dispersed and nationally driven institutional response. The competing proposals have been driven more by a perceived shift in the global power distribution than by any renewed or reinforced sense of regional vulnerability or common identity.