December 2009

Conceptualising the Three-Tier Approach to Analyse the Security Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific

This paper examines the emerging structural dynamics of security politics in the Asia-Pacific region, arguing that a new conceptualization of regional security arrangements is necessary. The author develops a three-tier approach covering bilateral strategic interactions, weak regional or global arrangements, and the increase in needs-based functional regional security arrangements. He discusses bilateral security relations and their impact on the balance of power in the region before moving to explore multilateral arrangements and their apparent impotence. The paper then focuses on functional security arrangements and argues that their dynamics must be better acknowledged and examined.

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