Time to rethink regional security cooperation

East Asia does not have a unified multilateral security regime like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and it will unlikely see such a system in the near future.

The existing security regime in East Asia can be divided into three categories: bilateral military alliances led by the US, with the US-Japanese alliance the axis; coordination and cooperation among major powers; and multilateral dialogues and forums.

Coordination and cooperation among major powers is likely to be the key to maintaining regional peace and security for some time to come, making relations among China, the US and Japan very important not only for the region, but the rest of the world. Hence, the future of any regional alliance or multilateral dialogue would depend on trilateral ties.