East Asia in Crisis: The Security Implications of the Collapse of Economic Institutions

摘要

The financial crisis that began in Thailand in mid-1997 has now become a global one. It has consumed governments upset defense planning and the regional standing of major powers in Asia, and is forcing us to rethink Asia's entire past and future political trajectory. The security implications go beyond merely the crash of unsound financial systems. Governments have fallen across Asia and in Russia. Civil violence is currently taking place in Indonesia, a key Asian state. Defense research, development and procurement have been postponed in most Asian countries. The crisis and its reverberations have shaken financial markets and governments as far away as Brazil. In order to assess the dangers posed by this crisis to Asian and U.S. security interests, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) cosponsored a conference with the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Reserve Officers Association in Seattle, Washington on June 9- 10, 1998. This conference represented a unique opportunity to conduct such an assessment since it brought together participants from government the military, academia, international financial institutions, and Asia.