Abstract
Over the last few years the institutionalization of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) process has started to take shape. Government leaders, ministers, and senior officials from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)1 and the three Northeast Asian states—China, Japan, and South Korea—that together comprise the participants in the process are consulting on an increasing range of issues. The APT’s emergence raises questions about relations between it and other regional groupings such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and ASEAN itself, as well as about the overall prospects for its future development. There are a number of obstacles to this development that arise from the many differences among the countries of East Asia. However, the argument presented here is that the combined effect of such key developments as an increase in regionalization; the success of other regional organizations and arrangements such as the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); the now-apparent limitations of ASEAN and APEC; and the impact of the Asian economic crisis have been enhancing the significance of the APT process. Indeed, the APT now has the potential to become the dominant regional institution in East Asia.
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