Regional Governance in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of and relationships between Track 1 and Track 2 arrangements in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. It argues that the emerging complex webs of institutional arrangements in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific exhibit a multi-layered structure of governance in which public and private actors are increasingly connected, but hierarchically organized. It also suggests that the coexistence of multiple governance mechanisms with overlapping but different memberships at both Track 1 and Track 2 levels signals difficulty in their attempts to enhance the overall efficacy of the governance mechanism.