Regionalism beyond East Asia: Membership, Governance and Legitimacy

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01532
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 06020:International relations-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: SHU Min 早稲田大学, 国際学術院, 准教授 (20534986)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 地域主義論 / 東アジア / TPP / RCEP / AIIB / 地政学 / 中国 / 日本

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research is an original attempt to study the emergence of ‘East Asia-plus regionalism’ in the 2010s when regional cooperative schemes actively embraced countries from outside East Asia. The main results are as follows. First, fieldwork was conducted in Japan, China and the United States for in-depth case studies of the TPP, the RCEP and the AIIB. Second, I did extensive library research at Stanford University and gave a public lecture at its Center for East Asian Studies. Third, by looking into how East Asia-plus regionalism reflected the geopolitical challenges of power transition and the policy debates between neoliberalism and developmentalism, the project has extended the existing theoretical framework of East Asian regionalism. In terms of research outcomes, I published three book chapters in edited volumes, and delivered 13 presentations at major domestic and international conferences. Two international academic meetings were organized at Stanford and Waseda Universities.

Free Research Field

国際政治経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

東アジアにおける地域経済協力は、2010年代に入って以降、ASEAN+3の枠組みを超え、環太平洋パートナーシップ協定（TPP）や地域的な包括的経済連携協定（RCEP）、アジアインフラ投資銀行（AIIB）など新たな枠組みの下で貿易自由化とインフラ投資を中心に進んできた。本研究は、TPP、RCEPとAIIBの事例に焦点を絞り、地政学と国際政治経済学の視点を用いて地域経済協力がどのように「東アジアを超える地域主義」に変身しつつあるのかを解明した。それを通じて、権力移行期の地政学や地域経済協力に対する新自由主義と開発主義の影響など、理論面と実証面から東アジアの地域統合論を再検討することに貢献した。