ABSTRACT
Regional development in East Asia has been ongoing ever since countries in the region achieved independence after a long period of Western colonialism. Although the idea of a united East Asian front well predated World War II, the postwar era witnessed a renewal in the attempts to establish a new regional order different from those of the early decades, which were tainted with the memory of Japanese militarist regionalism in the form of colonialism, war, and subjugation. Early institutionalization in East Asia remained a part of the larger geopolitical struggle between the two major camps (Eastern and Western Blocs) and therefore had deep ideological undertones. Over time, however, the ideological aspect seemed to weaken, while a widely shared pragmatism took hold, albeit to varying degrees, among polities in East Asia.
