APEC's relevance

APEC's relevance

An APEC community remains a figment of the diplomatic imagination: the national interests of its too many member nations are just too diverse. That has not slowed the bewildering expansion of the APEC agenda.

APEC takes a position on almost anything, from shoulder- mounted missile launchers to road accident statistics. But activity is not the same as purpose.

Ironically, the best argument for saving APEC may be the East Asia Summit. With the U.S. increasingly wary of a rising China and not invited to Kuala Lumpur, there is a new logic in reinvigorating the broader APEC forum, at which the U.S. superpower and Asia's emerging power are expected to get along.

That does not mean APEC can simply drift. It must rationalize and refocus. For Canberra, there is an added urgency. The success of (the APEC forum in) Sydney 2007 depends not on the shirts of the day, but on the substance and relevance of the meetings. -- The Sydney Morning Herald