EAS in 2017: Disarming Democracy in Asia Pacific

October 2017 |16 pages

This policy brief outlines significant problems in some of the EAS priority areas, with a focus on the development impact of economic and security policies. Decisions by Asia-Pacific ‘middle states’ (i.e., most Southeast Asian countries) on these issues are influenced by considerations of their self-positioning vis-à-vis competing dominant states in the region: the US and China. The policy brief also points to principles towards a people-centered regional integration.