Human security in the Western Pacific: The Asian economic crisis and beyond

This paper examines the human security implications of the Asian economic crisis for the Western Pacific. It will be shown that the regional insecurity was not caused by great power military intervention or by the escalation of territorial disputes, or subversion from revolutionary ideologies. Rather the insecurity was transmitted through the unregulated operation of the global market, on which the countries of East Asia had based their national and regional development strategies. It is likely that the regional approach to security will change forever after 1998. It is argued that if the countries of the Western Pacific are to successfully ameliorate the effects of the Asian economic crisis as well as optimally position themselves to resolve future challenges then a regional security regime that revolves around humanitarian concerns must be developed.