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2001. China and the South China Sea: Two Faces of Power in the Rising China's Neighborhood Policy

Author:
Erik Beukel
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The South China Sea is subject to competing claims of sovereignty by the littoral states. Due to the number of claimants and the complexity of claims, it is called the “mother of all territorial disputes”. China is far the biggest country in the region and claims sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea. This Working Paper elaborates the claims and considers the implications for China's neighborhood relations and the alignments in the Asia-Pacific. The focus is on two faces of power in China's policy, military power and soft power, after China's seizure of Mischief Reef in 1995 that upset its neighbors. China attaches great weight to developing good neighborhood relations and has become an advocate of soft power. However, when it concerns the South China Sea the soft power approach is combined with a continuing use of military power to strengthen its position. It is concluded that the two faces of power present China with new unwieldy challenges.
Topic:
International Relations and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
China, Israel, and Southeast Asia

2002. The Mediterranean Energy Scene: What Now? What Next?

Author:
Silvia Colombo and Ian Lesser
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The paper provides a summary of the key issues raised in the third meeting of the Mediterranean Strategy Group which was convened in Rome to discuss the problem of energy security and cooperation in the Mediterranean from a transatlantic perspective. The meeting looked into the impact of geopolitical and economic variables on energy security around the Mediterranean, including the role and interests of “new” actors such as China, Russia and India. It also examined the outlook for new oil, gas, nuclear and electric power transmission projects, the prospects for alternative energy schemes, and the implications for strategy and policy affecting governments and the private sectors.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, and India

2003. Regional cooperation in Northeast Asia: searching for the mode of governance

Author:
Hidetaka Yoshimatsu
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Since the late 1990s, China, Japan, and South Korea – the core states in Northeast Asia – have gradually engaged in various initiatives and institutions for regional cooperation. Such initiatives extend from summitry to functional cooperation in finance, environmental protection, logistics, and other areas. Furthermore, the three countries have shown their willingness to vitalize cross-border economic activities by concluding commercial arrangements. Given these evolutions, this article seeks to address the following questions: what features are found in trilateral cooperative initiatives and how these features are evaluated in terms of 'regional governance'? The paper advances two propositions. First, regional cooperation in Northeast Asia can be characterized as weak neoliberal orientation and intensive business involvements in cooperative projects in state-directed policy networks. Second, regional governance in Northeast Asia has gradually intensified the nature of regulatory governance in which the governments of the three countries sought to harmonize standards and regulatory systems through trilateral cooperation.
Political Geography:
Japan, China, South Korea, and Northeast Asia

2004. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the softest of them all? Evaluating Japanese and Chinese strategies in the 'soft' power competition era

Author:
Yee-Kuang Heng
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
As states jostle to attract and entice others by deploying a range of innovative strategies, a 'soft' power competition era looms possibly in the Asia-Pacific. This paper argues that reflecting on this period of competitive policy innovation provides a valuable opportunity to re-assess the theory and practice of Joseph Nye's 'soft' power, given its conceptual and empirical frailties: how theoretically precise are the policies commonly described as projecting 'soft' power? To do so, it undertakes a comparative evaluation of Japan's and China's 'soft' power strategies. By paying close attention to the theory–practice linkage, it illuminates the disparities in their understanding of Nye's 'soft' power. Rather than a one-size-fits-all concept, 'soft' power strategies with distinctively Japanese and Chinese characteristics are emerging, bringing different advantages and weaknesses. The proverbial magic mirror would conclude that by more closely matching Nye's formulations and displaying a less competitive streak, Japan appears the 'softer' power.
Political Geography:
Japan, China, and Asia-Pacific

2005. Understanding Northeast Asian regional dynamics: inventory checking and new discourses on power, interest, and identity

Author:
Chung-in Moon and Jong Kun Choi
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Northeast Asia has emerged as the center of gravity in contemporary international relations (IR), partly owing to China's rise, over the past two decades. In understanding regional dynamics in Northeast Asia, the (neo-) realist perspective has been dominant. Despite its rich analytical and empirical contribution, however, preoccupation with power and its distribution, blurred geographic focus, and built-in status quo bias have prevented the existing realist literature to capture the new reality of the region that can be characterized by trends toward liberal transition, the politics of national identity, and growing correlates of perception, domestic politics, and regional interactions. Against this backdrop, we attempt to undertake an inventory checking of new discourses on power, interest, and identity in accounting for regional change and stability as well as to shed new light on debates on theorizing of IR in Northeast Asia.
Political Geography:
China and Northeast Asia

2006. Civilization and Empire: China and Japan's Encounter with European International Society

Author:
Tetsuya Sakai
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Situated in the twenty-first century world, the idea of an empire justified by the notion of 'civilization's mission' might seem anachronistic and indifferent to us. Contemporary International Society, however, cannot be totally free from the lineage of civilization and empire descending from the European International Society of the late nineteenth century. The problem of 'failed states' and states that abuse human rights, which has surfaced after the demise of the Cold War, often calls into question whether or not it is necessary for Contemporary International Society to utilize its 'civilizing' mode of interaction and intervene in such states. While such arguments are often inspired by a genuine desire to bring about a more humane international life, it cannot be denied that they have uncomfortable similarities with the late nineteenth century (pp. 182–183). International Society still has a dualistic mode: coexistence among 'civilized' states and 'civilizing' backward states.
Political Geography:
Japan, China, and Europe

2007. The Global Financial Crisis and Africa's "Immiserizing Wealth"

Author:
Luc Soete and Alexis Habiyaremye
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Before the current global recession, many resource-rich African countries were recording unprecedented levels of growth due to a raw material price boom. However, the collapse in raw material prices and the ensuing severe economic difficulties have again exposed the vulnerability of these countries' natural resource export-focussed economic structures. In this research brief, we describe how Africa's abundance of natural resources attracted disruptive and predatory foreign forces that have hindered innovation-based growth and economic diversification by delaying the accumulation of sufficient stocks of human capital. We suggest that for their long-term prosperity, resource-rich African countries shift their strategic emphasis from natural to human resources and technological capabilities needed to transform those natural resources into valuable goods and services to compete in the global market.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Industrial Policy, Global Recession, Natural Resources, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and India

2008. Subaltern straits: 'exit', 'voice', and 'loyalty' in the United States–China–Taiwan relations

Author:
L.H.M. Ling, Ching-Chane Hwang, and Boyu Chen
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Mainstream approaches perpetuate the Taiwan–China 'crisis'. They do so by following Cold-War concepts and prescriptions, despite the rise of new realities and new visions for cross-strait relations. We draw on Hirschman's identification of 'loyalty' and 'voice' to describe the mainstream discourse on cross-strait relations in Taiwan, mostly directed by the United States. But a third option is now emerging. It offers the possibility of a paradigmatic breakthrough or 'exit' based on articulations of a postcolonial subjectivity for Taiwan and its relations with China.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Taiwan

2009. Russia's breakthrough into the Asia-Pacific: China's role

Author:
Gaye Christoffersen
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Russia's place in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) is undefined, hovering between Moscow's grandiose visions of its geopolitical role in balance of power strategies, and Russia's near invisibility in the region. Russia's integration into the Asia-Pacific has been dependent on China to give Russia a legitimate political and military presence in the region. Moscow blames mistakes it has made in Asia Pacific integration, 1992– 2005, on this China dependence, and expects that post-2006 Russian integration will be different as Moscow diversifies its relations in the region, culminating in Russia hosting the APEC 2012 summit.
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Moscow, and Asia-Pacific

2010. China and the Global Political Economy

Author:
Yoshifumi Nakai
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
This book by a British scholar is a welcome addition to the study of con-temporary China. There is no question that Professor Breslin knows the field pretty well. He describes concisely what the issues are in China now and those who are working on those issues both in China and elsewhere. Those readers, who are interested in China but ‘who do not have a detailed knowledge of the Chinese case’ (p. 7), will learn a lot by reading this book. The author escorts the readers, like an experienced tour guide, to the wild and uncharted terrain of China studies. China is huge and is full of rough tracks. To travel such a place, you need an experienced navigator or a good guide map, hopefully both. This book provides both and shows us more. The author describes not only the political landscape of today’s China but also the locations of hidden pitfalls and landmines.
Political Geography:
China