Trilateral Relations in Northeast Asia

The aim of this introductory essay is to both discuss the overall topic of this Special Issue – trilateralism in Northeast Asia – and briefly present the five research articles that follow. The Introduction begins by explaining the choice of the theme for the Special Issue, and why there are empirico-policy and theoretical reasons to examine trilateral relations in Northeast Asia through a series of dedicated research articles. The second part of the Introduction covers several of those empirico-policy and theoretical reasons in depth, including how trilateral relations in Northeast Asia contribute to power balancing and how information asymmetries within trilateral groupings can make cooperation challenging. Special attention is placed on examining how trilaterals (as a form of minilateral) have the upside of filling some gaps in the international security architecture, while nonetheless also representing potential downside risk through heightened security dilemma dynamics. The penultimate section of the Introduction provides a brief synopsis of the main argument of each research article in the collection. Finally, the fourth section concludes the Introduction by tying together the main points, contextualising them within the evolution of contemporary Northeast Asia, and signposting the value of the articles for scholars and policymakers.