The U.S. military preponderance of power in Northeast Asia, based on the Cold War systems of collective defense, is no longer adequate to cope with the complex threats to peace that have reemerged since 1990. It may be preferable to move beyond the old Cold War division of the Soviet Union, China and North Korea on the one side and the U.S., Japan and South Korea on the other, toward a system of multilateral cooperative security. The nations of Northeast Asia are searching for new modes of ensuring their security in the era of uncertainty marking the post-Cold War period. There is a need for cooperative security in Northeast Asia that is aimed at engaging all of the nations in dialogue and cooperation. A cooperative system would focus on reducing tensions, preventing war and diffusing the potential threats to regional stability. Although there are no clear and immediate dangers in Northeast Asia, there are many unresolved problems of security that warrant multilateral cooperation. Due to the importance of the seas and growing concern about maritime issues, maritime security could be a catalyst for establishing multilateral cooperative security. The United States is in a unique position to cooperate with Northeast Asian nations in maritime cooperative security. Finally, multilateral cooperative security will allow all of the nations involved to spend less on defense and concentrate more on the goal of creating an environment conducive to modernization and prosperity.
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