Asia-Pacific Diplomacy: Nongovernmental Organizations and International Relations

The emergence of Asia-Pacific regionalism, as witnessed by the increasing influence of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the annual ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, highlights one of the major trends in late twentieth-century geopolitics and international relations. Asia-Pacific Diplomacy traces the evolution of the Pacific economic cooperation movement by examining the diplomatic contributions of three international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) -- the scholarly Pacific Trade and Development Conference (PAFTAD), the business-oriented Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), and the multipartite (academic, business, and government) Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). Lawrence Woods also provides a historical perspective by assessing the work of the Institute of Pacific Relations, forerunner of the INGOs. This book makes an important contribution to the study of international political and economic institutions. It argues that as the regional cooperation movement expands at the governmental level. an understanding of the nongovernmental roots of that movement is required if the diplomatic contributions of the INGOs are to be retained.