Directional leadership in institutionbuilding: Japan's approaches to ASEAN in the establishment of PECC and APEC

Abstract

Studies on leadership stress the leaders-followers relationship in which leaders are supposed to induce followers to act for certain goals of both leaders and followers, a leadership style which can be characterized as directional leadership. This sort of leadership seems essential in institutionbuilding. This article, based on this notion, examines Japan's roles behind the establishment of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) in 1980 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 1989. This article asserts that a major feature of Japan's leadership role behind the establishment of PECC and APEC was Japan's special attention to ASEAN countries and endeavoured to incorporate ASEAN‘s interests. The rationale behind treating ASEAN respectfully stemmed partly from Japan's traditional leadership intention to contribute to the economic development of Southeast Asian countries. This intention has been sustained by its selfperceived identity as the only industrialized country in Asia and self-imposed duty as a bridge between the developed and developing countries in international politics. The article suggests that Japan's leadership efforts to incorporate ASEAN’s interests into PECC and APEC through launching blueprints and conducting diplomacy can be regarded as an example of directional leadership which partly caused PECC to emerge as a quasigovernmental institution and APEC as an organization with a legally nonbinding force.