US Approaches to the Trade-Security Nexus in East Asia: From Securitization to Resecuritization

In this article I explore why US approaches to the trade-security nexus in postwar East Asia have unfolded in three critical stages: securitization, desecuritization, and resecuritization. During the Cold War, security considerations overshadowed America’s economic interests in East Asia under the San Francisco alliance system. Yet two external shocks in the 1990s—the end of the Cold War and the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis—reversed the trend, placing economic considerations at the forefront of the trade-security nexus. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, trade was subordinated to security concerns. This analysis demystifies the realist illusion that the United States has always securitized its trade relations with East Asia. It also challenges the liberal notion that closer economic interdependence has reduced the chances of military conflicts. The study concludes that the current resecuritization of America’s trade relations with its East Asian allies stands on shaky ground and that the latest global economic slump is likely to further weaken the US effort to reconnect the ties between trade and security.