"Emmers questions the dichotomy implicit in this interpretation and investigates what role the balance of power really plays in cooperative security arrangements and in the calculations of their participants. He offers a thorough analysis of the influence the balance of power has had on the formation and evolution of ASEAN and the ARF and reveals the coexistence and interrelationship between both approaches within the two institutions." "The book contains case studies of Brunei's motives in joining ASEAN in 1984, ASEAN's response to the Third Indochina Conflict, the workings of the ARF since 1994 and ASEAN's involvement in the South China Sea dispute. It will interest students and researchers of ASEAN and the ARF, the international politics of the Asia-Pacific, regionalism and the balance of power theory."--Jacket.