Recent developments in Asia Pacific, such as the tension in East Timor over independence, the Russian invasion of Chechnya, and the coup in Pakistan, underscore the continuing uncertainties in the regional security environment. These and other events are explored in the 2000 edition of the annual Asia Pacific Security Outlook. This year’s Outlook identifies two new trends in the security context of Asia Pacific: domestic politics, rather than international conflicts, as the dominant regional security concern, and efforts among regional powers to ease tensions on their own-such as East Timor’s secession from Indonesia and the subsequent peacekeeping operations-without looking to the United States for guidance.Written for general audiences and defense experts alike, the Outlook assesses perceptions of national security, key defense issues, and the contributions to regional and global security of nineteen member countries of the ASEAN Regional Forum-including, for the first time, Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia.
