Search

Begin New Search Content Type Journal Article

10211. US economic statecraft in East Asia

Author:
Maryanne Kelton
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
This article analyzes the reasons that led to the six United States forces withdrawals from South Korea between 1947 and 2008 and the Republic of Korea's responses to these policies. The article discusses the local and global aspects of these forces' functions and tasks and attempts to understand why Korea has not prepared itself for the withdrawal of the US forces throughout the years. The article will argue that there might be a seventh withdrawal of US forces from Korea in the near future, which South Korea and the USA should begin preparing for.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States and East Asia

10212. Malaysia's 2005–2006 refugee stand-off with Thailand: a security culture analysis

Author:
Peter Hourdequin
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
In September of 2005, Malaysia–Thailand relations were stressed by an incident in which 131 Thai Muslims fled across the Southern Thai border to seek refuge in Malaysia. The Malaysian government initially refused to return these 'asylum seekers,' and eventually chose to internationalize the situation by calling on the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). Malaysia's decision to internationalize the issue points to potential instability in Malaysia-Thailand bilateral relations and reflects several internal political problems faced by United Malays National Organization (UMNO) central decisions makers. This paper seeks to explain the Malaysian central government's security perspective on the northern border region. To do this, I employ Muthiah Alagappa's framework for security culture analysis in an attempt to understand Malaysian security culture from the perspective of that culture's central decision makers themselves. (Alagappa, M ed., (1998) Asian Security Practice: Material and Ideational Influences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.)
Topic:
Security and Government
Political Geography:
Malaysia, Asia, and Thailand

10213. Realistic yet humanitarian? The comprehensive plan of action and refugee policy in Southeast Asia

Author:
Sara E. Davies
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
The 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) has recently been described as a successful example of how to manage large protracted refugee flows. However, this article revisits the circumstances surrounding the CPA used to resolve the prolonged Indo-Chinese refugee crisis to highlight that part of its development was linked to the fact that Southeast Asian states refused to engage with proposed solutions, which did not include repatriation for the majority of the Indo-Chinese asylum seekers who were deemed to be 'non-genuine' (UNGA, 1989a) refugees. This resulted in the CPA often forcibly repatriating 'non-genuine' refugees, particularly near the end of its program. This article reviews the CPA in order to assess whether its practices and results should be repeated.
Political Geography:
China and Southeast Asia

10214. North Korea's foreign economic relations

Author:
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Many debates about engagement with North Korea hinge on the precise nature of North Korea's foreign economic relations: whether trade and investment are on commercial or non-commercial terms; the extent of illicit activities, and the changing geographic patterns of North Korea's trade. This article provides an effort to reconstruct North Korea's foreign economic relations, subordinating our estimates to the discipline of the balance of payments accounting framework. Among the most salient findings for the debate about engagement and sanctions is that North Korea's trade and investment have continued to increase despite the onset of the nuclear crisis and a decline in illicit activities. This growth has occurred in part because of the growing weight of China and South Korea in trade, aid, and investment. We also find that economic relations between North and South Korea have a substantially greater non-commercial component than those occurring across the China–North Korea border.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
China, South Korea, and North Korea

10215. Japanese and American Perspectives on East Asian Regionalism

Author:
Gregory W. Noble
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Regular convening of East Asian summits and rising concerns about the American dollar have heightened interest in Asian cooperation. Japan will necessarily play a central role in regional endeavors, and the United States must at least acquiesce if regional coordination is to progress. Among American accounts, the most theoretically elaborate and systematically comparative analysis is A World of Regions, while Remapping East Asia provides the most authoritative overview of recent developments. Japanese-language studies of East Asian regionalism agree that regional cooperation is far less institutionalized and rule-based in East Asia than in Europe, but they include a wider range of opinion about the desirability and feasibility of cooperation. Skeptics on the right warn that efforts to create a regional community would weaken the United States–Japan alliance, undermine universal values, and cede regional leadership to China. Optimists on the left counter that regional cooperation holds out the only hope for ameliorating nationalist conflicts. Most numerous are centrists arguing for active cooperation on economics and the environment, but only cautious moves on politics and security. Despite their caution, Japanese authors convey a sense that changes to the American-led global and regional order are occurring and likely will continue.
Political Geography:
Japan, America, Europe, and East Asia

10216. Japanese Strategic Thought toward Asia

Author:
Hiroshi Kimura
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
This well-constructed work starts from a rather lengthy, detailed 'Overview' written by three editors to enable readers to clearly understand the purpose and structure of the volume. This part includes a summary of the four periods of Japanese strategic thinking that comprise the main body of the book: the 1980s, the first half of the 1990s, the second half of the 1990s, and the Koizumi era. The volume, published in 2007, even covers the first few months of Abe Shinzo in office. In Part 1, 'Chronology', the afore-mentioned four periods are examined. Part 2, 'Geography', focuses on Japan's strategic thought toward five countries/areas in Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, and Central Asia. The final chapter deals with Japan's strategic thinking on regionalism. The chronological and geographical approaches taken in the book give readers a complete picture of the topic. Editors and contributors consist of ten leading experts in Asian studies residing in the United States and other major Asian countries. Most of the contributors are university professors, but there was also a significant contribution from some people with a background in diplomatic services.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, Asia, and Korea

10217. How North Korea threatens China's interests: understanding Chinese 'duplicity' on the North Korean nuclear issue

Author:
Gregory J. Moore
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Speaking of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) test of a nuclear device on 9 October 2006, official statements from the government of one of the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) claimed that 'the DPRK ignored [the] universal opposition of the international community and flagrantly conducted the nuclear test' and that this government 'is resolutely opposed to it'. Moreover, in 2005, an expert on North Korea working in the defense sector of the same UNSC permanent-five member told the author that he thought the Kim Jong-Il regime was 'scary' and 'despotic' and that Kim maintains his rule by 'brainwashing' his people. It would certainly not be surprising to hear such words about North Korea from a member of the Bush Administration, or perhaps from a Brit. Yet, strange though it might seem to some, the views expressed about North Korea's nuclear test above came from official Chinese statements (People's Daily, October 2006), and the defense expert was one of China's most senior North Korean watchers, one with many years of experience in both Koreas.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China and Korea

10218. Monetary and financial cooperation in Asia: taking stock of recent ongoings

Author:
Ramkishen S. Rajan
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Ever since the currency crisis of 1997–98, there has been a great deal of interest in enhancing regional economic cooperation in Asia. It is important to keep in mind that economic regionalism is of multidimensional nature. The focus of this paper is on policy initiatives underway in Asia to enhance monetary and financial regionalism and the analytical bases for these initiatives, rather than on examining the de facto level of financial and monetary links that already exists (which may or may not have been facilitated via regional policy mechanisms). There are many gradations of monetary and financial regionalism, ranging from the weak form involving regional policy dialog and surveillance, on the one hand, to exchange rate and monetary coordination, on the other. To maintain focus, this paper concentrates more narrowly on 'medium forms' of monetary and financial regionalism, broadly defined as the development of regional liquidity arrangements and regional financial markets.
Topic:
Markets
Political Geography:
Asia

10219. Indonesia's foreign policy after Soeharto: international pressure, democratization, and policy change

Author:
Kai He
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
Indonesian politics opened a new phase of democratization after Soeharto stepped down from his 32 years of authoritarian rule. In this paper, Indonesia's foreign policy changes after Soeharto are systematically examined through an 'international pressure–political legitimacy' model derived from neoclassical realism. This model specifies that Indonesia's foreign policy during democratization is mainly influenced by two factors: international pressure and the political legitimacy of the new democratic government. Four cases of foreign policy decision-making from three post-Soeharto presidencies are examined: (i) Indonesia's East Timor policy under Habibie; (ii) Indonesia's 'silence response' toward China's protest on the anti-Chinese riots under Habibie; (iii) Wahid's 'looking towards Asia' proposal; and (iv) Megawati's anti-terrorism and Aceh military operation. The results show that political legitimacy shapes the nature of state behavior, i.e. balancing or compromising, whereas international pressure determines the pattern of state behavior, i.e. external/internal balancing or compromising in words/in deeds.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Democratization
Political Geography:
China, Indonesia, and Asia

10220. Contesting soft power: Japanese popular culture in East and Southeast Asia

Author:
Nissim Kadosh Otmazgin
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
During the last two decades, Japanese popular culture industries have massively penetrated East Asia's markets and their products have been widely disseminated and consumed. In this region, Japan has recently emerg ed as a cultural power, in addition to representing an industrial forerunner and model. The aim of this article is to explore the connection between popular culture and soft power by analyzing the activities of the Japanese popular culture industries in East Asia, and by examining the images their products disseminates. This study is based on export data, market surveys, and interviews with media industry personnel and consumers in five cities in East Asia, arguing that the impact of the Japanese popular culture lies in shaping this region's cultural markets and in disseminating new images of Japan, but not in exerting local influence or in creating Japanese-dominated 'spheres of influence'.
Topic:
Markets
Political Geography:
Japan and East Asia