Implications of a weakening regional security architecture

As strategic order in the Asia-Pacific assumes a more competitive character, it comes as little surprise that the regional security architecture is currently changing to reflect this order. The region’s weakening security architecture both reflects and points towards deepening strategic competition and rivalry. The clearest indications that the region’s security architecture is under stress have appeared in relation to the South China Sea disputes. The Southeast Asian sub-region has served as a particular focus for the region’s shifting alignments. Proposals for new pieces of regional architecture, such as Australia’s ‘Asia-Pacific Community’ and Japan’s ‘East Asian Community’ concept, were being advanced by a growing number of governments in the region. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) central position in the region’s security architecture is relatively new. The waning of interest in the wider ASEAN-led architecture – particularly on the part of the region’s major powers – is significant.