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10722. East Asian Environmental Co-operation: Central Pessimism, Local Optimism
- Author:
- Sangbum Shin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the regional environmental co-operation in East Asia at the local government level, focusing on the intercity environmental co-operation between the two cities in Japan and China—Kitakyushu and Dalian—as a case. Theoretically, this case demonstrates the dynamic nature of local government level environmental co-operation in the sense that all the three levels—government, local government, and private—are closely interconnected, and the major actors—the firms—play a role in shaping the outcome of intercity co-operation. Also, in terms of policy implication, this case is important not just for East Asian but also global environmental politics because it is the co-operation between cities in China and Japan—the two most important countries in East Asia that affect regional and global environmental protections efforts seriously. In order to investigate the reasons of success, and the dynamic nature of intercity environmental co-operation, this paper suggests a framework for analysis on the relationship between multiple dimensions of regional environmental co-operation, and then, examines the historical process and the details of the case and explains why this case has been remarkably successful and produced significant outcome. Finally, it draws some theoretical as well as policy implications of this case in terms of possibilities for and limitations of East Asian regional environmental co-operation in the future.
- Topic:
- Environment and Government
- Political Geography:
- Japan, China, and East Asia
10723. Building Peace or Following the Leader? Japan's Peace Consolidation Diplomacy
- Author:
- Julie Gilson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- In Japan, debates about the nature of peacekeeping contributions continue alongside questions regarding the relevance of Japan's constitution in the twenty-first century and the political implications of aid disbursement. This article seeks to illustrate how both Official Development Assistance and peacekeeping operations are being linked through Japan's "peace consolidation diplomacy." For historical reasons, the Japanese government has been unable to play a traditional peacekeeping role. At the same time, Japan's position as leading aid donor has received negative feedback from a recession-bound populous that now views key recipient countries as competitors rather than needy neighbours. As a result, issues pertaining to humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping and aid provision frequently overlap, as Japan searches for a means of playing a constructive international role commensurate with the expectations of the rest of the world and with Japan's own claim for a place on the permanent UN Security Council. This article examines Japanese debates surrounding the sending military personnel to crisis areas and the changing provision of aid, against a background of changing concepts of humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping and assistance. It illustrates how hte Japanese government utilizes a combined narrative of peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention and aid giving, in order simultaneously to soften the public response to sending peacekeepers and to respond to increasingly targeted international demands for a more substantial Japanese contribution to conflict resolution.
- Topic:
- Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Japan
10724. Understanding East Asian Cross-Regionalism: An Analytical Framework
- Author:
- Mireya Solís and Saori N. Katada
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- A key feature of East Asian FTA diplomacy remains unacknowledged and, therefore, unaccounted for: the activism displayed in seeking preferential trading relations with countries outside the region. While European and North American countries have also pursued cross-regional trade agreements (CRTAs), East Asia is unique in pursuing extra-regional partnerships before consolidating the regional trade integration process. This framework article identifies the common patterns and fundamental factors behind the East Asian governments' moves towards establishing CRTAs. After laying out the conventional arguments—ranging from the extra-regional market dependence, the region's security arrangements, and economic and political motives behind East Asia's extra-regional interests—the article introduces the novel concept of "leverage." This notion highlights how cross-regional and intra-regional FTA initiatives are intimately linked: East Asian countries frequently choose an extraregional FTA partner in order to break regional inertias that hinder integration, to win domestic battles, and to appropriate extra-regional negotiation modalities that they can use in their subsequent intra-regional FTA negotiations. The article concludes with a summary of the findings from the country cases, and the policy implications of East Asia's porous regionalism, with its heavy doses of cross-regional trade initiatives.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- East Asia and North America
10725. Forming a Cross-Regional Partnership: The South Korea-Chile FTA and its Implications
- Author:
- Sung-Hoon Park and Min Gyo Koo
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- CRTAs have become a main feature of South Korea's newly found enthusiasm for a multi-track FTA strategy. In this study, we examine the rise of South Korea's aggressive FTA initiatives, with a special focus on the first cross-Pacific FTA, namely the South Korea-Chile FTA, and draw implications for South Korea's other RTA initiatives. South Korea's motivations to pursue CRTAs are complex. These include economic, political and diplomatic/leverage motives. South Korea's policy departure from its long-standing support for the multilateral trading system began with its FTA negotiations with Chile, a country located on the opposite side of the globe. Aside from the South Korea-Chile FTA, South Korea has been negotiating a number of other CRTAs. Most importantly, South Korea and the US began to negotiate a bilateral FTA in June 2006, the successful conclusion of which will have significant economic and strategic repercussions not only for South Korea but also for its neighboring East Asian countries. The economic and strategic motivations of the political leadership, as well as the new bureaucratic balance of power centered on the Office of the Minister for Trade, have played a significant role in South Korea's dramatic rush toward RTAs. Although South Korea's pursuit of RTAs does not necessarily mean that it has completely abandoned the multilateral trading system, the policy departure is increasingly becoming obvious and significant.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Korea, and Chile
10726. The Japan-Mexico FTA: A Cross-Regional Step in the Path towards Asian Regionalism
- Author:
- Mireya Solís and Saori N. Katada
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- By most accounts, Japan and Mexico remain distant economic partners with only a modest volume of bilateral trade and foreign direct investment, and a large geographical and cultural gulf between them. By this depiction, the Japanese decision to negotiate with Mexico is puzzling if not downright nonsensical: Why would Japan invest so much political capital in the negotiation of a complex free trade agreement (FTA) with a nation accounting for such a minuscule share of its international economic exchange? Solís and Katada challenge this interpretation of Japan's second bilateral FTA ever, and demonstrate that far from being irrational or insignificant, the stakes involved in the Japan-Mexico FTA were very high, and that this crossregional initiative stands to exert powerful influence over the future evolution of Japan's shift towards economic regionalism. For a number of Japanese industries (automobiles, electronics and government procurement contractors) negotiating with Mexico was essential to level the playing field vis-à-vis their American and European rivals, which already enjoyed preferential access to the Mexican market based on their FTAs. For the Japanese trade bureaucrats, negotiations with Mexico offered an opportunity to tip the domestic balance in favour of an active FTA diplomacy, despite the opposition of the agricultural lobby. Negotiations with Mexico constituted a litmus test, both for the Japanese government and in the eyes of potential FTA partners in Asia, on whether Japan could offer a satisfactory liberalization package to prospective FTA partners to make these negotiations worthwhile.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Japan, America, Asia, and Mexico
10727. Southeast Asian Cross-Regional FTAs: Origins, Motives and Aims
- Author:
- Stephen Hoadley
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- This article surveys the free trade agreement (FTA) initiatives of three governments: Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. It examines each in a search for motives, not only for negotiating FTAs within the region but also for reaching outside Asia to find negotiating partners. It finds that the presumption of economic gain as the primary motive must be qualified because the markets of many of the extra-regional partners are relatively small in Asian terms, and their trade and investment barriers are already amongst the lowest in the world. This is especially true of New Zealand and Chile, which nevertheless are becoming popular extra-regional partners for Asian governments. While the national and sectoral economic motives announced by the trade spokespeople for Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are acknowledged as predominant, this article goes beyond such declarations to explore the explicit and implicit diplomatic, political and bureaucratic aims that could account more fully for these trade negotiation initiatives. In accordance with the conceptual analysis presented by Solís and Katada in this issue of Pacific Affairs, the drivers of FTAs are grouped into three broad categories: 1) economic motives; 2) security and diplomatic motives; and 3) leverage motives. Seven hypotheses derived from these categories are employed to guide this survey of recent FTA initiatives by Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and to explore their reasons for engaging with FTA partners both outside and within the Southeast Asian region.
- Topic:
- Security and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Southeast Asia
10728. China's Cross-Regional FTA Initiatives: Towards Comprehensive National Power
- Author:
- Stephen Hoadley and Jian Yang
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- University of British Columbia
- Abstract:
- This article surveys the recent initiation of free trade talks by China. Of particular interest are the motives driving this innovation, particularly as regards negotiations with distant rather than regional partners, known as cross-regional trade agreements or CRTAs. This investigation is guided by the conceptual analysis presented by Solís and Katada in this issue of Pacific Affairs. The authors find that the initiation of cross-regional preferential trading links allows the Chinese leadership to speed up economic development, to hedge against future trade diversion in other regions of the world, to pursue domestic reform at their own chosen pace, to develop negotiating expertise in a less tense political environment, and to advance core interests in foreign economic policy and security policy by validating the concept of a peaceful rise to power. China's recent pursuit of crossregional FTAs is thus significant not only for the economic benefits they promise but also for their enhancement of China's national power and capacity for international leadership without provoking conflict. As a supplement to China's diplomacy, crossregional FTA negotiations must be recognized as an important new element of China's long-term international strategy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- China
10729. Pakistan and the Rule of Law: Judged and Found Wanting
- Author:
- Irene Khan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- When former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal became the leader of her Pakistan People's Party, following her assassination, he told the crowds that 'My mother always said democracy is the best revenge'. Yet, despite the fact parliamentary elections are now scheduled for February 18, Amnesty International sensed a general mood of hopelessness during a recent visit to the country. 'Pakistan is lost' was a refrain heard in many places.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan
10730. Pakistan: Real and Imaginary Risks
- Author:
- Anatol Lieven
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Risk analysts are getting it wrong in Pakistan. Fears of an Islamic state, or loose nukes – the capture of the nation's arsenal by extremists – will only come about if the west makes policy mistakes. Instead, long-term issues like climate change and population growth are the real threats.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan