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22. Who defines the rules of the game in East Asia? The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the strategic use of international institutions
- Author:
- Xinyuan Dai
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- A growing sense among academics and policymakers alike is that the dominant issues of the twenty-first century will be decided in Asia-Pacific. But, the open question is how will these issues be decided: Who defines the rules of the game in the region and how? To address these questions, this paper studies the regulatory competition that is unfolding in the region. In particular, it examines the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with its potential to redraw the political-economic geography in Asia. Why is such a significantly path-breaking institution possible? This paper builds on the scholarship of international political economy and especially the literature on international institutions. It argues that this potential of the TPP crucially depends on the institutional environment in East Asia. A state of institutional anarchy enables the TPP to take hold in Asia. Important policy implications follow regarding the strategic use of international institutions.
- Topic:
- Economics and Politics
- Political Geography:
- East Asia
23. Doubts down under: American extended deterrence, Australia, and the 1999 East Timor crisis
- Author:
- Michael Cohen and Andrew O′Neil
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- American extended deterrence commitments span the globe. Despite extensive research on the causes of deterrence successes and failures, evidence of which US allies find what extended deterrence commitments credible is elusive. This article utilizes interviews with former Australian policy-makers to analyze the credibility of the United States to defend Australian forces during the 1999 INTERFET intervention in East Timor. While there was no direct threat to Australian sovereignty, the episode stoked concerns in Canberra regarding the willingness of Washington to come to Australia's assistance. The Howard government coveted a US tripwire force presence, and the Clinton administration's unwillingness to provide this raised serious concerns among Australian political elites about the alliance. While this says little about the separate question of whether Washington would use nuclear or conventional weapons in defense of Australian sovereignty, the Timor case indicates the existence of an extended deterrence credibility deficit regarding the more probable low-intensity conflicts that Australia finds itself in.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- America and Australia
24. Rethinking the IR theory of empire in late imperial China
- Author:
- Joseph MacKay
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- International relations scholars have recently taken increased interest in empire. However, research has often focused on European colonial empires. This article aims to evaluate imperialism in a non-Western historical setting: Late Imperial China. The article first compares extant international relations (IR) accounts of empire (one broad and one narrow) to theories of the East Asian hierarchical international system. Second, to further specify analysis, I evaluate IR theories of empire against the historical record of the Ming and Qing dynasties, addressing Chinese relations with surrounding 'tributary' states, conquered imperial possessions, and other neighboring polities. I argue that while IR theories of empire capture much of the region's historical politics, they nonetheless underspecify it. Theories of East Asian hierarchy suggest additional mechanisms at work. The historical cases suggest extensive variation in how empires expand and consolidate. I conclude that there is room for further theory building about empire in IR and suggest possible areas of emphasis.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Politics
- Political Geography:
- China and East Asia
25. Crouching tiger, lurking dragon: understanding Taiwan's sovereignty and trade linkages in the twenty-first century
- Author:
- Alexander C. Tan and Michael I. Magcamit
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper seeks to explore and explain the process through which Taiwan utilizes free trade – both at multilateral and bilateral levels – in enhancing its shrinking de facto sovereignty against the backdrop of ubiquitous 'China factor' in the twenty-first century. It argues that China's sinicization project creates a scenario wherein increasing cross-strait stability ironically leads to decreasing de facto sovereignty for Taiwan. Due to this existing cross-strait security dilemma, Taiwanese leaders are being forced to preserve the island's quasi-independent statehood due to fears of losing its remaining de facto autonomy over domestic and foreign affairs. In essence, Taiwan chooses to be de facto free by remaining de jure unfree. Taiwan's sovereign space, therefore, becomes a pivotal referent object of its national security policy and strategy. Balancing between the two paradoxical interests of enhancing sovereignty while maintaining the Chinese-dominated cross-strait status-quo underlines the relentless games, changes, and fears that Taiwan confronts today.
- Topic:
- Security
- Political Geography:
- China and Taiwan
26. 'The Loud Dissenter and its Cautious Partner' – Russia, China, global governance and humanitarian intervention
- Author:
- Marc Lanteigne and Aglaya Snetkov
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- The global issue of humanitarian intervention has become more pronounced and complicated in recent years due to increasingly diverging views on addressing security crises between the West on one side and Russia and China on the other. Despite their support for the principles of 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P), both Russia and China are wary of Western intervention in internal conflicts after the Cold War and have become increasingly critical of Western-led armed intervention in humanitarian conflicts. Unease in Beijing and Moscow over the multilateral intervention in the 2011 Libyan conflict and their ongoing opposition to Western policies in the Syrian Civil War since 2011 would seem to point to ever more coincidence in their negative views of American and Western intervention policies. A conventional wisdom has thus emerged that there is something akin to a Sino–Russian 'bloc', with near-identical policies of discouraging armed intervention within state borders under the aegis of humanitarian intervention or the R2P doctrine, signed in 2005 (2005 World Summit). However, closer examination of Russian and Chinese positions on the Libyan and Syrian conflicts, drawing on normative and identity perspectives, reveals significant differences in how both states address intervention in civil conflicts involving human rights emergencies. Indeed, the Libyan and Syrian cases suggest that the distance between the two states on 'acceptable' policies toward international intervention in civil conflicts may actually be increasing. While Russia has assumed the role of the 'loud dissenter' in global dialogs on humanitarian intervention, China has opted for the position of a 'cautious partner'.
- Topic:
- Cold War and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, and Syria
27. The rationale for supporting nuclear power: analysis of Taiwanese public opinion survey
- Author:
- Xiaochen Su, Chung-li Wu, Yen-chieh Liao, Tai-De Lee, and Chen Tsao
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- The future of nuclear energy use has become increasingly contentious across the world. This is especially the case in Taiwan, which simultaneously suffers from the instabilities associated with fossil fuel imports and widespread public doubts about the government's ability to handle a Fukushima-scale disaster, while also being increasingly dependent on nuclear energy. This study employs the 2013 Taiwan Election and Democratization Study (TEDS) survey on the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant to gauge public opinion on the nuclear issue. The results demonstrate that while the public tends to be pro-nuclear when they are informed about the financial consequences of abandoning nuclear power and reassured about safety concerns, opponents of nuclear power, though numerically fewer, tend to be more vocal. Further research is needed to determine the exact logic of the public's decision making, based on a more precise set of preconditions.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Taiwan
28. Diplomacy in Japan–EU Relations: From the Cold War to the Post-Bipolar Era EU–Japan Relations, 1970–2012
- Author:
- Julie Gilson
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- <p>The European Union and Japan are, respectively, the world's leading and third largest economies by gross domestic product (GDP) and, when combined, make up one-third of global GDP. They are major trading partners and key actors in contemporary international politics, represented in all major international fora and participants in key security agenda, from peacekeeping to various multilateral security structures. And yet there remains very little scholarship on this important bilateral relationship. It is refreshing, therefore, to see the simultaneous publication of two volumes on JapanEU relations. Oliviero Frattolillo's single-authored book offers a concise retelling of the history of relations between Japan and the EU, aiming to recapture as it goes the principal milestones in their history with a focus on the three elements of the context of a changing international system, pragmatic nationalism and identity discourse. Indeed, these concepts provide the core of his conclusion but would have made an excellent structuring device for the entire book. He chooses instead to divide the book into two parts: looking first at the international environment on their bilateral relations and then at the idea of mediating actorness and culture in their dialogue. In contrast, Keck et al.'s much longer, edited, volume brings together practitioners of diplomacy alongside academics to cover much of the same ground. It is divided into three parts: taking an historical overview, examining case studies, and looking to the future. The case studies of Part 2 include several historical events and the third part tells us very little about the changes to which Japan and the EU have had to respond in more recent times. Whilst both books, then, offer a concise retelling of history, it is a shame that neither fully engages with the period of EUJapan relations since the start of the new millennium./p
29. Economic Diplomacy: Japan and the Balance of National Interests
- Author:
- Sara Konoe
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- <p>Okano-Heijmans's Economic Diplomacy powerfully presents how regional and global strategic factors have formulated Japan's economic diplomacy, while also considering how domestic business interests have impacted it. In particular, the book analyzes continuity and changes in Japan's economic diplomacy since the 1990s. The major cases green environmental and energy policies and Japan's diplomacy toward North Korea are drawn from the two extremes on the spectrum of economic diplomacy between the business end and the power-play end. The former involves cooperative efforts by business and government to maximize business opportunities, and the latter involves the strategic goals of a government. The analysis is based on the theories of economic diplomacy and related fields, as well as an extensive survey of empirical materials related to the selected case studies of Japan, including both English-written and Japanese-written ones, thus contributing to the understanding of economic diplomacy in general and that of Japan in particular./p
30. 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