US Post Cold War Grand Strategy and Multilateral National Integration in Europe and East Asia

East Asian liberal intergovernmental integration is unlikely to occur without formal engagement by the United States. An Asian Union is therefore improbable. The European Union model is not transferrable to East Asia in that the former is a multilateral organization that has emerged that can claim authoritatively to speak for Europe. The Cold War context for European liberal intergovernmental integration included US policies constituting the strategy of containment towards the USSR. US incentives to coordinate west European policies towards the Communist bloc targeted mid-range power allies. These European nation states were roughly equal in their national power capabilities. The USSR did not have the hard or soft power capabilities to claim irrefutable membership in the same European club. Even traditional Russian allies such as Bulgaria have sought affirmation of their European identity through accession to the EU. A similar US-led containment strategy towards China is unlikely. Creation of a multistate Asian regional organization that will persuasively claim to represent Asia in opposition to China is unfeasible. Potential power disparities among East Asia states will be so significant that China cannot be a pole of opposition against which to construct Asia. Pan-regional integration should be Pacific-oriented rather than Asia-focused