グローバリゼーションの進展とアジア地域主義の変容

抄録

This paper provides a tentative analysis on how regionalism and globalization are/have been interrelated and affected each other, focusing on recent trends of development of Asian regionalism. That Asian countries began to promote a variety of cooperation and dialogue in the ASEAN, the APEC, the ARF, ASEAN+3, the EAS and others indicates that Asian regionalism rapidly advanced in the past two decades. These regional institutions were operated with a set of norms called the “Asian Way” for regional governance, which includes “respect for sovereignty”, “non-interference in internal affairs”, “decision-making by consensus”, and “support for informal and soft institutional structure”.
On the other hand, especially since the end of the Cold War, complex phenomena of globalization have spread all over the world. This paper focuses on the normative dimension of globalization: the diffusion of pluralistic democracy, human rights and economic liberalism as a set of “universal values” or “global standards”, which are transforming the forms of norms, values and way of thinking in many societies in the world.
This paper argues that the “AsianWay” for regional governance efforts has been gradually eroded by these “universal values”, even though it still affects activities under Asian institutions. Three trends reflecting this normative transformation of Asian regionalism have emerged since the early 2000s. Firstly, some of Asian countries begin to attempt to promote the realization of “universal values” in the activities and dialogues in regional institutions, and they sometimes extended activities beyond “respect for sovereignty”, “noninterference in internal affairs”. The severe reactions of ASEAN toward the junta in Myanmar since 2003 reveal this new trend in Asian regionalism. Besides, the ASEAN Charter, which was adopted in 2007 stipulates that the promotion of “democracy”, “rule of law”, and “human rights” are some of main purposes of the ASEAN.
Secondly, regional cooperation in Asia began to place a heavy accent on policy coordination and harmonization in not only cross-border but also the behind-the-border issues. This trend is created by the serious consideration among regional elites for the survival of their countries and regional economy under the severe impact of economic globalization. The establishment of the AFTA by ASEAN countries and the promotion of structural reform assistance in the APEC show the development of this trend.
Thirdly, some of Asian regional institutions have changed some rules of governance in order to reinforce the effectiveness and validity, beyond the “support for informal and soft institutional structure”. The adoption of ASEAN-minus-X formula in the ASEAN and that of the Pathfinder Initiative in the APEC indicate the intention of these institutions to advance regional cooperation more quickly and effectively with flexible rules for implementation. Besides, the contents of the ASEAN Charter showed that the mainstream of the ASEAN was willing to face the challenge of enhanced effectiveness and validity.
The transformation of the “Asian Way” will not be linear, but it is sure that the characteristics of Asian regionalism are changing in response to the phenomenon of globalization. However, it should not be ignored that the transformation of the “Asian Way” causes serious splits among Asian countries over the principles, norms and values.