With the end of the Cold War, the far-reaching changes across Eastern Europe, the unification of the Germanies, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait all demanding the close attention of US policymakers, one might wonder whether US interest in the security of the Pacific Basin has diminished. As the essays in this volume confirm, American long-range interest remains as keen as ever. These essays address Pacific security from three perspectives: the US role, the prospects for cooperative security, and particular problems of individual Pacific nations. Former National Security Advisor Walt W. Rostow and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard L. Armitage call for a continuing US involvement in Pacific regional security as necessary to support US interests. Admiral Ronald J. Hays, Dr. Robert A. Scalapino, Dr. Donald E. Weatherbee, Dr. Lawrence E. Grinter, Dr. Young W. Kihl, Mr. Peter G.F. Henderson, and Sir Peter Kenilorea address cooperative security issues area by area. Ten other regional experts look at future collective security as it affects Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and the major South Pacific islands, First presented in 1988 and subsequently revised for this volume, these essays take a long-range perspective that makes them particularly valuable now and for the 1990s.

Symposium sponsored by the National Defense University.

Keynote address : the US security role in Southeast Asia : not a millstone, but a cornerstone / Richard L. Armitage -- Plenary address : the Pacific Basin and national security / Walt W. Rostow -- Asia-Pacific challenges and opportunities / Guocang Huan -- Security cooperation in Northeast Asia : patterns and prospects / Lawrence E. Grinter and Young W. Kihl -- Prospects for Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation / Edward A. Olsen -- Economic aspects of US and Japanese policies in East Asia : a Korean view / Oh Kwan-Chi -- Plenary address : regional security trends / Ronald J. Hays -- Soviet attitudes toward the Asia-Pacific community / Parris H. Chang -- Asian security prospects : towards the 1990s / Sheldon W. Simon -- Looking through the ASEAN end of the telescope / Donald E. Weatherbee. The future of democracy and stability in the Philippines / Carolina G. Hernandez -- Pacific security and cooperation : a Thai view / Sarasin Viraphol -- Regional security : the strategic thinking of Thai military leaders / Kanala Khantaprab -- Indonesia, ASEAN, and the Pacific Basin : some security issues / J. Soedjati Djiwandono -- Regionalism in the Pacific : prospects and problems / Robert A. Scalapino -- Economics and national security : the illusion of self-reliance / Harry G. Gelber -- Plenary address : Australian perceptions of cooperative security in the southern Pacific / Peter G.F. Henderson -- The changing New Zealand defense posture / Dora Alves -- Plenary address : Pacific Island nations : perceptions of their external environment / Peter Kenilorea.