Abstract:
Maritime security is a vexing issue in international relations and has been a central
focus for ARF as an organization. This thesis explores the institutionalization
process of maritime security cooperation with institutional balancing theory in
particular being utilized as the foundation to explain the attitude and behavior of
ARF members towards the issue.of maritime security. As institutional balancing is
not a concept that adheres to one school of thought, the actions of ARF members
and the response of ARF as an institution can be explained in this theory through
their struggle, confrontation, bargaining and many more. The thesis examines ARF
behavior towards maritime security by summarizing differing interpretations of
each school of thoughts on the political dynamic of Asia-Pacific and the
circumstances that lead to the establishment of the ARF. Accordingly, the struggle
of ARF in establishing cohesive maritime security cooperation can be seen by (1)
the inability to develop CBM to Preventive Diplomacy, (2) the trouble of
sovereignty in dealing with traditional and non-traditional maritime security
problems, and (3) the stagnancy in moving from dialogue based to practical based
cooperation. These struggles imply that ARF has conducted its practice based on
institutional balancing and the inherent problem as well as the way the organization
deals with the problem of maritime security portrays the act of balancing through
an institution
