NATION STATES AND EAST ASIAN COMMUNITY:

A CASE STUDY OF MALAYSIA AND CHINA

UKM-GUP-TKS-07-12-065

DR. ZARINA @ ZAIRINA BINTI OTHMAN (KETUA PENYELIDIK), DR. SITY

BINTI DAUD, PROFESOR MADYA DR. RASHILA BINTI HJ. RAMLI

ABTRACT
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So far, this 21 century has seen an increasing number of regional groupings in
international politics. Such groupings have been formed partly as a counterweight to the
uneven globalization of the world economy. Globalization has inevitably generated new
conflicts and new struggles, with some forces of globalization imposed on people from
governmental entities, while other forces emerge from the responses and interactions of
individuals, organized groups, and business entities. While Europeans, champions of
globalization, have benefited from forming the European Union, Asia has somehow
lagged behind in forming new regional groupings. The Asian economic crisis of 1997-
1998 forced international attention on the world's interdependence with this region.
Subsequently, as the region was slowly recovering from that crisis, the Asian tsunamis
again focused policymakers and political analysts specifically on the East Asian
community. This research explores what the formation of an organized East Asian
Community (EAC) would mean, and how likely it is to occur. Based on the case of
Malaysia, a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
and China, an important ASEAN "dialogue partner," this research will seek to meet three
objectives: 1) to identify internal and external factors that either encourage or constrain
the formation of an EAC; 2) to analyze the impact of the regional groupings on the
identity of individual states; and 3) to contribute toward the building of new theories
related to international security and political identities. Methodology will include
triangulation—the combining of three or more research techniques--to cross-check the
validity and credibility of the qualitative data collected. The three techniques are: 1)
primary key informant interviews; 2) secondary key informant interviews; and 3) content
analysis. By studying the idea of an EAC from economic, political, and security
perspectives, this study will add to the so-far limited literature related to the subject.