Vol.:(0123456789) International Politics (2020) 57:259–277 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-019-00202-x ORIGINAL ARTICLE Multilateralism and East Asian transitions: the English School, diplomacy, and a networking regional order Alice D. Ba 1 Published online: 11 October 2019 © Springer Nature Limited 2019 Abstract This article traces East Asia’s evolving multilateralisms and role in transitioning East Asia away from “US hub-and-spokes” bilateralism toward a more networked system of security arrangements. Drawing on the English School, it argues for revisiting multilateralism’s diplomatic foundations as a way to direct attention to (1) the practice’s region-specifc content and (2) the ways that multilateralism has introduced system-transitioning changes that include system-level dynamics asso- ciated with membership, actor hood, and the types of security at stake. The result is a more complex security environment and normative context that calls for more multifaceted responses from all, including the United States and China whose cur- rent multilateral diplomacies both draw from and challenge the multilateral norms and practices that have been created. Theoretically, re-attention to multilateralism’s diplomatic foundations also ofers the English School an opportunity to make more distinctive contributions to ongoing debates about East Asia’s networking processes and security arrangements. Keywords Security multilateralism · Diplomacy · English School · Security networks · Power transition · Asia Introduction In East Asia, the growth of multilateral arrangements ofers one of the greater departures from its Cold War security practices. This article considers how multi- lateralism, especially as expressed by intergovernmental frameworks, both refects and contributes to East Asia’s “complex network of interwoven bilateral, minilat- eral, and multilateral security arrangements”—or what this Special Issue calls a This article is part of the Special Issue: Networking Hegemony: Alliance Dynamics in East Asia. * Alice D. Ba aliceba@udel.edu 1 University of Delaware, 347 Smith Hall, 18 Amstel Avenue, Newark, DE 19716, USA