'Asian nations should bolster commitment to multilateralism'

Asian countries should bolster their commitment to multilateralism and build strong regional security institutions to help mitigate the growing uncertainty and instability in the region, a US think-tank has said.
The US-based Asia Society Policy Institute said a key question facing Asia's leaders is whether the region will be able to maintain the unprecedented economic growth and relative peace it has enjoyed for the past 70 years.
"Given growing concerns about a rising China, a dangerous North Korea, and a potentially less engaged United States, the answer is unclear," according to a report by the Asia Society Policy Institute's Independent Commission on Regional Architecture.

The report titled 'Preserving the Long Peace in Asia - The Institutional Building Blocks of Long-Term Regional Security' asked Asian countries to bolster their commitment to multilateralism and build strong regional security institutions to help mitigate the growing uncertainty and instability in the region.
The report noted that increasing GDP levels, widespread poverty reduction and growing trade integration have created optimism for the region's future and given states every incentive to avoid conflict.
At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region's security environment has become increasingly complex, amplifying the risk that nations may stumble into conflict, it observed.

"Amid these changes, it cannot be taken for granted that Asia's 'long peace' will continue indefinitely. Now more than ever, we must examine mechanisms that can help prevent future crises from emerging and prepare against threats to strategic stability," the report said.

The report was released ahead of the East Asia Summit in Philippines on November 13-14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with top regional and global leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are scheduled to attend the two-day summit in Angeles in Philippines.
"The effort to strengthen Asia's regional security architecture, while arduous, is necessary, and the time to start is now. Determining the ultimate design of effective regional security architecture may be a slow, iterative process, but nations cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good in this situation," the 50-page-long report said.
In long-term, the report recommends that efforts be made to reform the East Asia Summit into a more formal organisation that brings together broader components of security cooperation across the region.

"This would involve a process of drafting and agreeing upon rules of operation for the institution, as well as a period of time to formalise any such expanded institution," it said.
The report has been authored by Independent Commission on Regional Security Architecture, chaired by the former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He is currently president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. Former Indian foreign secretary and national security advisor Shivshankar Menon are among its seven members.
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum held annually by leaders of 18 countries including India. EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN leaders' meetings.