一個「西太平洋之北大西洋公約組織」正在東南亞浮現嗎？建立「美國＋東協」安全共同體所面臨的挑戰

Is a “West Pacific NATO” Emerging in Southeast Asia? Challenges in Establishing the “US+ASEAN” Security Community

本文以安全共同體的概念評估美國與東協能否組成一個新的安全體系，並檢視他們為此可能遭遇的挑戰。就此，該安全共同體之建立有三大挑戰等待克服：第一、雙方應追求自由、和平之價值與認同的共享，而非只是強調共同戰略利益的基礎。第二、必須正視區域內民主（或民主化）發展的不足及民主國家規模狹小的現象。第三、努力降低華盛頓與北京兩者之戰略競爭所可能形成的負面衝擊。在中國崛起之下，美國、美國的亞洲盟邦，以及東協國家三者必須致力於促進該區域內的民主發展，並且建立彼此間共同的自由規範與認同。

In this paper, the ideas of security community are applied in re-evaluating whether the US and ASEAN nations can mutually generate a new security system in the region, as well as the challenges that they will encounter in establishing the framework. I answer the questions raised from three major perspectives: First, current security cooperation and military collaborations between the US and ASEAN are based on their common strategic interest rather than on sharing liberal-pacific norms, values, and identities. Second, the deficient democratic (democratizing) development and small size of democracies within the community are another impediment to building the multilateral US-ASEAN security mechanism. Third, strategic competition for political and economic dominance between Washington and Beijing, as supported by the balance-of-power principle, inevitably complicates, slows down, and even breaks down the formation and consolidation of the US+ASEAN security community. Although China’s rise and its active involvement in the ASEAN, ARF, and EAS institutions pose substantial difficulty to establishing the US+ASEAN security community, all three components―Washington, Washington’s liberal-democratic allies in Asia, and ASEAN countries―should consider that shaping a security community in the Asia-Pacific necessitates promoting democracy and expanding the liberal norms and identities that are common to these nations.