Why is There No NATO in Asia? Collective Identity, Regionalism, and the Origins of Multilateralism

Abstract

Regional groupings and regional effects are of growing importance in world politics. Although often described in geographical terms, regions are political creations and not ^ xed by geography. Even regions that seem most natural and inalterable are products of political construction and subject to reconstruction attempts. Looking at speci^ c instances in which such constructions have occurred can tell us a great deal about the shape and the shaping of international politics...