When does track two matter? Structure, agency and Asian regionalism

This article examines the influence of ‘track two’ policy networks in shaping regional political and security cooperation in East Asia. It focuses on two of the most established and lauded political-security networks: the ASEAN-Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS) and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), critically exploring their effectiveness and influence today. Drawing on extensive interviews, participant observation and an analysis of documentary sources, it concludes that there is little evidence to suggest these networks have affected the significant institutional change described in much of the literature. Rather, there is persuasive evidence that their influence on track one has waned in recent years. After canvassing a range of alternative explanations for this state of affairs, it argues that recent scholarship on track two has paid insufficient attention to the scope conditions that are a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for unofficial networks to successfully achieve policy diffusion. Non-official diplomacy can affect institutional change, but it is less common than most accounts suggest.