Philippine E-Journals

Northeast Asia in the 21st Century: Prospects for Cooperation and Implications for the Philippines

Gerardo Largoza | Ponciano S. Intal Jr. | Tereso S. Tullao Jr.

Discipline: Economics, Business

 

Abstract:

When speculating upon the future configuration of political and economic/forces in Northeast Asia, observers tend to be confronted with the same problem that baffled them 40 years ago: not only is it rather difficult to say with any great degree of certainty where the region is headed, it is also unclear as to how stable the existing institutional conditions within the key countries are. In the midst of clear indications of rising prosperity in places such as China's southern coastal provinces are found leaders primarily concerned with surviving the erosion of their political legitimacy as well as over a billion people overwhelmed by the daily need to make ends meet. In such circumstances, there is precious little energy left to consider global trends, let alone adjust to new domestic and international challenges.