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Begin New Search Publishing Institution Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS) Publication Year within 25 Years

91. MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Dissemination Meeting on Non-Traditional Security

Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Over the last three years, the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) coordinated cluster three of the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, which focused on internal challenges in Asia. The Centre developed an active research agenda that drew on its own resources as well as that of its network partners around the region to deliver policy-relevant outputs. The research addressed many of the most pressing challenges faced by Asia's policymaking communities, from climate change, natural disasters, and energy, to internal and cross-border conflict.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Asia and Australia

92. Global Norm Diffusion in East Asia: How China and Japan Implement the Responsibility to Protect

Author:
Jochen Prantl and Ryoko Nakano
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
This paper addresses the problem of global norm diffusion in international relations with particular reference to the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in East Asia. Exposing the limits of previous work on norm localisation, the authors propose a norm diffusion loop framework. Rather than understanding norm diffusion as a linear top-down process, the authors demonstrate that the reception to RtoP has evolved in a far more dynamic way which can best be described as a feedback loop. This paper first looks into the processes and causal mechanisms that helped to construct RtoP as an emerging transnational soft norm; then, it analyses the challenges of diffusing RtoP from the global to the regional and domestic levels; and, finally, it examines the variation of norm effects across states within the same region, focusing in particular on how RtoP has shaped Chinese and Japanese policy responses.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
Japan, China, Israel, and Asia

93. Southeast Asia and the Outcomes of the COP16

Author:
J. Jackson Ewing and Irene A. Kuntjoro
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded its annual meeting in December 2010, reaching agreements that are relevant for the climate strategies and policies of states and regions worldwide. This policy brief explores the deliberations and outcomes of this 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) as they relate to Southeast Asian responses to climate change at the community, state and regional levels. This brief proceeds in three sections. Section I reviews the diplomatic processes of the COP16, examining how they diverge from the approaches of the recent past, and critically assesses the agreements realised at the conference. Section II addresses the specific implications that these developments have for Southeast Asian countries and the region at large, paying particular attention to the unique vulnerabilities experienced to varying degrees throughout the region. Section III offers strategic recommendations relating to the current state of international climate negotiations and the existing policies and needs of Southeast Asian stakeholders.
Topic:
Climate Change, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United Nations, Mexico, and Southeast Asia

94. The Gender and Climate Debate: More of the Same or New Pathways of Thinking and Doing?

Author:
Bernadette P. Resurreccion
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Feminist and development advocates have recently taken international agreement framers to task for the paucity of gender perspectives when defining climate change agendas, a gap which has led to the emergence of 'gender and climate change' discourses. This paper aims to contribute to this growing concern with gender and climate change adaptation by: (i) briefly reviewing international agreements and advocacy literature in order to understand the conceptual antecedents underlying gender and climate change discourses and their respective deficits; and (ii) engaging with past and current theorisations on gender, adaptation and resilience which are relevant to a better understanding of the linkages among gender, climate change adaptation and human security. This paper argues that 'gender' and 'vulnerability' have to be viewed as complex social and human security processes that defy current simplifications based on fixed and essentialised traits and properties of women that characterised the earlier women, environment and development (WED) discourse. Current gender and climate change discussions often build on this earlier strand. An understanding of the complex linkages and processes of gendering and vulnerability is applied to recent climate change adaptation studies in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
Vietnam and Cambodia

95. Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Cross-Border Areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle

Author:
Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
This paper investigates the security impacts of climate change in three Southeast Asian cross-border areas– the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle – through an examination of the ways in which climate change results in human insecurity and possibly social unrest, tension and conflict. The three cross-border areas are significant in that they host unique but threatened large-scale freshwater, terrestrial forest, coastal and marine ecosystems. In addition, they are home to more than 400 million people and provide important ecosystem goods and services to many countries in the region. This paper explores and evaluates regional agreements and actions in each of the three areas, with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation as well as mitigation in the development agenda. The analysis also points to the importance of reaching out to other actors beyond state and intergovernmental ones if adaptation and mitigation efforts were to succeed. There is a need to identify other actors, such as the business sector, local communities and the public, with the aim of getting them involved in these important issues.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Climate Change, Territorial Disputes, and Water
Political Geography:
Asia

96. ASEAN Community Building: Towards a Comprehensive Framework for Civilian Protection in Southeast Asia

Author:
Mely Caballero-Anthony and Holly Haywood
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Initiatives introduced under the various pillars of the envisaged ASEAN Community, notably the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), represent potential entry points for building a more effective framework for civilian protection in Southeast Asia. This policy brief attempts to delineate some ways by which the opportunities presented by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) initiatives, as well as the momentum surrounding the development of a regional capacity for ensuring peace and stability, could be advanced.
Topic:
Gender Issues and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

97. Women and Food Security: A Comparison of South Asia and Southeast Asia

Author:
Arpita Mathur
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Women are a social group vulnerable to food insecurity despite being primary actors in the food chain. The problem of food insecurity among women is especially rampant in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Vulnerability to food insecurity has a definite effect on the health of women and children, as well as social and economic impacts in terms of fewer opportunities for education and greater instances of early marriages. A comparison of indicators used to assess vulnerabilities of women in the two regions shows that the overall situation in South Asia is worse than that in Southeast Asia. The primary securitising actors at the national, regional and international levels have to play an individual and collective role in rectifying the situation. It is equally mandatory for regional groupings such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to provide a sound systemic environment for individual countries to work towards achieving these objectives.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, and Food
Political Geography:
Asia

98. Report on Regional Consultation on The Responsibility to Protect

Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Five years have passed since the signing of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, when United Nations (UN) member states agreed to the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). Contained in paragraph 138 of the World Summit Outcome Document is a commitment by states to prevent four specific types of mass atrocities – ethnic cleansing, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It was a significant commitment outlining sovereignty as responsibility. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states were part of this historic signing, recalling incidents of mass atrocities in their own region, such as in Cambodia and East Timor. Since the 2005 World Summit, there have been numerous regional developments, within Southeast Asia, in the areas of conflict prevention, early warning mechanisms and protection frameworks for its populations, such as the recent establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC). However, there has been little discussion on what traction exists and how to operationalise RtoP in the region. In addition, there have been few avenues in Southeast Asia, for policymakers, civil society members, academics and the media to collectively discuss how RtoP is viewed in the region, how it can be better promoted and whether there are any lessons to be learned from past experiences in the region.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Asia

99. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): Reducing Human Vulnerabilities To Natural Disasters

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the world has witnessed several major natural disasters, from the boxing day tsunami in 2004, to the Haiti earthquake in January 2010 and the recent floods in Pakistan in August 2010. The 'World Disasters Report 2009' states that 3,605 natural disaster occurrences were recorded from 2000 to 2008. In many of these disasters, critics have repeatedly brought up the issue of the failure to provide adequate response, calling on states and international communities to shift from reactive to proactive approaches to disaster management. In fact, as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) acknowledges, policymakers have come to better understand how natural disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities of states and communities (UN, 2005). It should be noted that natural disasters have greater impact on poor countries and communities in particular as they tend to be more exposed to hazards and have less capacity and awareness to manage disaster risks (Concern Emergency Unit, 2005:2). This places greater importance on disaster risk reduction (DRR) as a means of reducing vulnerabilities of such states and communities and building their resilience to natural hazards.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan

100. Misdirected Development a Threat to Security – Analysis of Southeast Asia

Author:
Manpavan Joth Kaur and Lina Gong
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Under-performance on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and conflicts are connected such that the former can catalyse or prolong the latter. This Insight looks at Southeast Asia, where intrastate conflicts and violence have plagued countries for years. Three socially vulnerable groups experiencing inequality in access to outcomes of projects on the MDGs are identified - women and youth in rural areas and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The propensity for such inequality to incite and prolong conflict is examined.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Gender Issues, Armed Struggle, Insurgency, and Youth Culture
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia