Finance and Security in East Asia

What drives the relationship between regional finance and security in East Asia? Overall, I suggest, the relationship may be regarded as mutually endogenous. Financial cooperation in the region, long promoted in principle, is constrained in practice by underlying security tensions. Yet, over time, tentative steps toward financial cooperation could also have the effect of moderating regional strains, as governments become more accustomed to working with each other and as interests become more densely intertwined. Some form of financial regionalism, entailing closer monetary and financial relations, can certainly be anticipated. However, in the absence of a fundamental shift in regional politics, tangible achievements will most likely remain modest for a long time to come.