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481. Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies 2016 - Full Publication

Author:
Gilbert Rozman
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Joint U.S.-Korea Academic Studies
Institution:
Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI)
Abstract:
Since our founding in 1982, the work of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) has progressed to reflect the evolving nature of United States-Republic of Korea relations. Though many of the issues on which we seek to raise public discourse have transformed over the years, the same natural convergence of values continues to underpin the understanding and trust between our two peoples. Upholding our commitment to positive change based on a strong foundation of shared interests, KEI was excited to have a new partner in 2016 for our Academic Symposium, through which we strive to be a bridge between the academic and policy communities. This year, KEI traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to host part of our Academic Symposium at the International Studies Association (ISA) conference. The annual conference features international affairs scholars from around the world with a wide range of research interests and regional specializations to present papers and discussions on contemporary issues in their fields. We were pleased to contribute two panels on recent significant developments in Northeast Asia. Moreover, for the first time as part of our Academic Symposium, two panels were held in our Washington, D.C. office along with the two in Atlanta. Although the setting for this year’s Academic Symposium may have changed, KEI again turned to the skills and insights of Dr. Gilbert Rozman, the emeritus Musgrave Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, to serve as the Editor-in-Chief for this Joint U.S.- Korea Academic Studies volume and as an advisor to KEI’s programs at the ISA conference. This collaboration has once more brought together an excellent group of scholars and practitioners. The experts in this volume have thoughtfully addressed large, challenging themes that are pervasive throughout Asia and important for the U.S.-Korea alliance. China’s rise has garnered much attention, yet in the academic literature Beijing’s security intentions in Northeast Asia have tended to be overshadowed, a topic addressed in the first section. Major developments in South Korea-Japan relations over the past year, particularly the December 2015 agreement to address the “comfort women” issue, have led the authors in the second section to explore how the interaction with the other country factors into the national identity of each. Over the past year we have witnessed an increase in provocations by North Korea, met with increasingly punitive measures from the international community targeting its access to outside markets. Key to understanding how effective these efforts can be are the economic relationships the DPRK has with its neighbors, discussed in the third section. The final section looks to how the regional economic architecture in East Asia might be shaped in the future, a particularly timely discussion as the fate of the Trans- Pacific Partnership remains uncertain as this volume goes to print.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
Asia, South Korea, North Korea, Korea, and United States of America

482. The transnational extension of a symbolic fight: how State knowledge on borders cross the State borders? | L’extension transnationale du domaine de la lutte symbolique : comment les savoirs d’État sur les frontières passent-ils les frontières de l’État ?

Author:
Médéric Martin-Mazé
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
Why does the EU promote the OSCE concept of border security in Kyrgyzstan while the OSCE export the EU Integrated Border Management in Tajikistan? To elucidate this paradox, this article lays bare the transnational symbolic struggle between two professional guilds: Finnish and Austro-Hungarian border guard contest for the monopoly over the legitimate definition of means of circulation in Europe, and beyond. In European headquarters, the Fins successfully occupy the forestage of the EU, thereby relegating their Austro-Hungarians competitors to the backstage of the OSCE. On the Central Asian fields, however, the former provide the assistance of the OSCE to Tajikistan, whereas the later deliver the aid of the EU to Kyrgyzstan. This chassé-croisé helps understand why the Tajik strategy of border reform incorporates key elements of the Schengen 4 tiers model, while the Kyrgyz strategy implicitly refers to the cooperative approach put forth by the OSCE.
Topic:
Security, European Union, and Borders
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Asia

483. Canada and Asia: Prosperity and Security

Author:
Marius Grinius
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
Arguably the mid-1990s were Canada’s “Golden Age of Asia”, highlighted by the Team Canada trade visits by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the provincial Premiers to China, India, Pakistan and Japan, as well as to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. At the same time Canada played a prominent role in Asian security matters. This included Canadian expert participation in multilateral discussions on the South China Sea and in the North Pacific Cooperative Security Dialogue, a Canadian initiative. That particular Golden Age culminated with the Government proclaiming 1997 as “Canada’s Year of Asia Pacific”. Trade statistics indicate that Canada has once again rediscovered Asia, at least in terms of commercial prospects. What is less clear, however, is Canada’s commitment to the security and stability challenges that Asia continues to face. Notwithstanding all of the positive indicators of economic success in the Asia-Pacific region and all of the incentives for even greater prosperity within a predictable and peaceful environment, there are still many instances of potential military conflict that could jeopardize Asia’s economic successes. While Canada has considerable economic interests in Asia Pacific, its security record there is modest. Now, when China is our number two trading partner and Japan is number three, when we have our first Asian Free Trade Agreement, when we are looking to closer economic ties with the Asia-Pacific region, it would make sense for Canada to contribute more substantially to Asia Pacific’s long-term stability and security architecture. It has in the past. Canada has expressed its desire to join the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus Forum. It appears, however, that ASEAN is still not quite convinced of Canada’s commitment to Southeast Asia, or to Asia, and continues politely to stall until such time as Canada can show a serious, long-term track record of participation in ASEAN strategic and security priorities. The Asian way requires frequent and consistent face-time. Relationships matter. The regular message from polite ASEAN interlocutors remains the same: where is Canada? From the late 1980s and to about 2006, Canadian academic experts were closely involved in all relevant Asian fora, including the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific and the North Pacific Cooperative Security Dialogue. The Canadian Consortium on Asia Pacific Security, a group of some one hundred researchers across Canada, was highly active in Track II diplomacy (informal, non-governmental and unofficial) on Asian security issues. This included Canadian Law of the Sea experts who addressed South China Sea issues, a ten-year effort co-hosted and funded by Indonesia and CIDA. Government of Canada funding for this type of work, however, has dried up. All current Canadian Track II efforts are funded by private institutions. Just when China is taking an aggressive stance in the South China Sea, Canada is absent. Canada must demonstrate a stronger and more consistent commitment to Asia that goes well beyond the economic-commercial dimension. It must include a robust defence and security dimension. Canada has, for now, chosen to emphasize a mercantile foreign policy. Such an approach, however, must not ignore the need for a strong defence policy anchored within a vigorous foreign policy that is able to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. This applies to Canada’s approach to the Asia-Pacific region as much as to the rest of the world. Neither a “Global Markets Action Plan” nor a separate “Canada First Defence Strategy”, both formulated in a policy vacuum, is sufficient. There is a serious need for a Foreign Policy and complementary Defence Policy review, one where the Asia-Pacific region will be prominent.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Economics, Military Affairs, and Trade
Political Geography:
Canada, Asia, and North America

484. Reflections on the Chinese Emergence

Author:
Cesar Augusto Lambert de Azevedo
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
This article analyzes the fundamental challenges perceived by the People’s Republic of China: food security and energy security. They become evident through the higher demand over the domestic production. This relation compels the Chinese Communist Party to establish agreements with other countries to balance the supply and demand. The People’s Republic of China’s tools put in use to secure the agreements are institutional and military. Military tools are necessary to exercise the Chinese sovereignty over the South China Sea, and to keep safe the sea-lanes of communication. Consequently, the PRC-Brazil relations are examined, especially the latest.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Food Security, and Maritime
Political Geography:
China, Asia, Brazil, South America, and South China Sea

485. he peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines: evolution and lessons learned

Author:
Kristian Herbolzheimer
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (2014) marks the first significant peace agreement worldwide in ten years and has become an inevitable reference for any other contemporary peace process. During 17 years of negotiations the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front managed to build up a creative hybrid architecture for verifying the ceasefire, supporting the negotiations and implementing the agreements, with the participation of Filipinos and members of the international community, the military and civilians, and institutions and civil society. This report analyses the keys that allowed the parties to reach an agreement and the challenges ahead in terms of implementation. It devotes special attention to the management of security-related issues during the transition from war to peace.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, Military Strategy, and Peace
Political Geography:
Asia, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Mindanao

486. Security ties or electoral connections? The US Congress and the Korea–US Free Trade Agreement, 2007–2011

Author:
Jungkun Seo
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Conventional wisdom is that trade policy is often guided by geopolitical security considerations. A growing body of research addresses the security–trade linkage as a plausible cause for executive negotiations over the Korea–US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) in 2007. Yet, the approval of a trade deal with the Asian ally by America's legislature in 2011 features not only ‘security ties’ but also ‘electoral connections’. This paper seeks to examine the question of whether alliance relationships would inevitably translate into domestic commitments. Bringing domestic politics into consideration, this article also fills the gap in the literature on Congress-focused research of the KORUS FTA and sheds light on how lawmakers strike a balance between the principle of US foreign policy and the reality of conflicting domestic interests.
Topic:
Security, Geopolitics, and Free Trade
Political Geography:
Asia, North America, Korea, Asia-Pacific, and United States of America

487. Racing toward Tragedy? China's Rise, Military Competition in the Asia Pacific, and the Security Dilemma

Author:
G. John Ikenberry and Adam P. Liff
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Security
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
In the post–Cold War period, scholars have considered the Asia Pacific to be ripe for military competition and conflict. Developments over the past decade have deepened these expectations. Across the region, rising military spending and efforts of various states to bolster their military capabilities appear to have created an increasingly volatile climate, along with potentially vicious cycles of mutual arming and rearming. In this context, claims that China's rapid economic growth and surging military spending are fomenting destabilizing arms races and security dilemmas are widespread. Such claims make for catchy headlines, yet they are rarely subject to rigorous empirical tests. Whether patterns of military competition in the Asia Pacific are in fact attributable to a security dilemma–based logic has important implications for international relations theory and foreign policy. The answer has direct consequences for how leaders can maximize the likelihood that peace and stability will prevail in this economically and strategically vital region. A systematic empirical test derived from influential theoretical scholarship on the security dilemma concept assesses the drivers of bilateral and multilateral frictions and military competition under way in the Asia Pacific. Security dilemma–driven competition appears to be an important contributor, yet the outcome is not structurally determined. Although this military competition could grow significantly in the near future, there are a number of available measures that could help to ameliorate or manage some of its worst aspects.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Cold War
Political Geography:
China and Asia

488. Keeping EU-Asia Reengagement on Track

Author:
Richard Youngs
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The relationship between the European Union (EU) and Asia is in flux. The EU intensified its economic ties to Asia and boosted its security cooperation in the region in 2011 and 2012. But new challenges, including the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, have made it difficult to sustain this incipient momentum. There are a number of steps that EU and Asian governments can and should take to continue to strengthen their relations.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, and Economics
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, Middle East, and Asia

489. David Martin Jones, Nicholas Khoo and MLR Smith, Asian Security and the Rise of China: International Relations in an Age of Volatility

Author:
Dylan Kissane
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
If there is one issue in contemporary international relations that continues to provoke interest in academic and policy making circles alike it is how states, regions and the world should react to a rising China. While the influence of the People's Republic is being felt from Africa and the Global South through to the developed economies of North America and Europe, it is in East Asia where a re-emerging China has most focused the minds of diplomats and strategists, leaders and scholars and, indeed, the military men and women who must navigate this increasingly precarious great power polity. Within this East Asian context this new volume by David Martin Jones, Nicholas Khoo and MLR Smith delivers thoughtful and attentive analysis to the problem of responding to China's rise. The book is neither a historical account of the rise of China, though it does offer sufficient historical contextualisation for the reader, or another collection of prescriptive policy suggestions, though there are clear conclusions made about which regional and state strategies have best dealt with the rise of the Sinic superpower. Instead, this book is a theoretically informed, consistently argued and well written account of how states in a broadly defined East Asia have and continue to react to the changing security environment that confronts them in the first decades of the twenty-first century.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:
Africa, China, America, and Asia

490. Indonesia’s Defence Diplomacy: Harnessing the Hedging Strategy against Regional Uncertainties

Author:
Iis Gindarsah
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Indonesia has been increasingly susceptible to recent geopolitical developments. Along with the rapid pace of regional arms modernisation and unresolved territorial disputes, it begins to ponder the impact of emerging great power rivalry to the country’s strategic interests. However, rather than pursuing a robust military build-up, Indonesian policymakers asserts that diplomacy is the country’s first line of defence. This paper argues that Indonesia’s defence diplomacy serves two agenda of hedging strategy — strategic engagement and military modernisation. This way, Indonesian defence and security officials seek to moderate the impact of geopolitical changes whilst maintaining the country’s defensive ability against regional uncertainties.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Asia