Nationalism or Integration: A US Role for an Asian Choice?

In terms of trade, politics and security, Asian nations can cooperate or they can be nationalistic, working alone and creating unnecessary competition with neighbors. The nationalist route, with all its attempts to prove superiority, can provide a false sense of security for large segments of any citizenry. Asian powers such as Japan and China demonstrate both nationalistic and cooperative tendencies in their policies. The US encouraged European integration as a condition for help after the devastation of World War II – and, if engaged in the region, could play a similar role for Asia, reminds Professor Joergen Oerstroem Moeller in an essay for Opinion Asia. “Politically, [the alternative to integration] will open the door to rivalry, with traditional animosities raising their ugly head, while fermenting the birth of newer ones,” he writes. Both the US as well as the nations of Asia can pursue paths of nationalism or cooperation for achieving long-term goals, and any of these decisions by individual nations could ultimately determine the possibility of sustained global security. – YaleGlobal