Introduction: Dynamics of the Social Construction of East Asia

Abstract

The multifarious forces of globalization have profoundly changed not only the global economic landscape but also the identities of ethnic groups, nations and regions. As highlighted in the four articles that constitute this special issue, globalization has led to increasing cooperation between East and Southeast Asian countries through the simultaneous processes of regionalization and regionalism. Each country contributes to closer cooperation in Asia, albeit unevenly and in different ways (Frost 2008: 14). Since the 1990s, regionalism has been viewed as a potent force in the globalization process as 'it represents concentrations of political and economic power competing in the global economy, with multiple interregional and intra-regional flows' (Mittelman 1996: 190). This powerful force is extended into cross-regional interstate cooperation in terms of seeking preferential trading relations with countries outside the region through free trade agreements (Solis and Katada 2007). The current trend leans towards establishing more extensive and multifaceted external linkages within a multipolar context. The ASEAN Six