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This book assesses Mongolia's position in the security calculus of Northeast Asia and presents the policy outlooks of major powers vis-a-vis the region, including the United States, Japan, China, Russia, and India.Ground-breaking and modernistic in its approach, the book treats the often marginalised and landlocked small power state of Mongolia as a critical regional actor, particularly with regards to managing ties with encircling major powers Russia and China and assist in engaging the nuclear state of North Korea through dialogue mechanisms. This compilation of chapters by distinguished scholars explores Mongolia in the Northeast Asian geographical space within the context of three major themes: nuclear proliferation, environmental security, and socio-economic and civilisational conflicts. The book provides a multidisciplinary and multinational approach to Mongolia's role in the region's strategic landscape. It moves the regional security discussion beyond major power politics, North Korea's denuclearisation, and the impasse on the Korean Peninsula to discuss and analyse other underappreciated challenges facing the region.Considering Mongolia's role in achieving peace and stability in the neighbourhood, the book will be a valuable resource for researchers and readers in International Relations, Political Science, and Asian Studies.

This book, first published in 1986, examines the challenges the United States faced in maintaining a strong nuclear deterrence capability in the Far East without giving rise to political tensions among its allies. The Soviet aggression in the region, shown in the invasion of Afghanistan and the shooting down of a Korean airliner, demonstrated the need for a Western counterbalance, but the Asian nations were wary of becoming pawns in a nuclear power play between the superpowers. This book evaluates the meaning of Moscow's military buildup in the global context; analyses the impact of the buildup from the perspective of China, Korea, Japan, the nations of ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand; explores the interaction of the buildup with the unresolved conflict on the Korean peninsula; and assesses the European experience with the Soviet nuclear threat and examines its implications for Asia. It also evaluates the linkages between European and Asian security.

The topic of this book deals with a highly relevant empirical issue: East asian security and the dynamics of the respective governance structure or architecture are not only of regional but of global concern. Since the pivot of the American pivot to East Asia and other external actor´s responses to it the security architecture has changed in form, size and function. In order to analyze and explain these changes, hypotheses derived from IR middle range theories (i.e. soft and hard balancing) will be applied to cases of bilateral and multilateral security governance in East Asia.

This book provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of a key concept in East Asian security debates, sovereign autonomy, and how it reproduces hierarchy in the regional order. Park argues that contemporary strategic debates in East Asia are based on shared contextual knowledge - that of international hierarchy - reconstructed in the late-nineteenth century. The mechanism that reproduces this lens of hierarchy is domestic legitimacy politics in which embattled political leaders contest the meaning of sovereign autonomy. Park argues that the idea of status seeking has remained embedded in the concept of sovereign autonomy and endures through distinct and alternative security frames that continue to inform contemporary strategic debates in East Asia. This book makes a significant contribution to debates in international relations theory and security studies about autonomy and status, as well as to the now extensive literature on the nature of East Asian regional order.

During the 1990s, military spending, arms procurement and defence industrialisation have all increased rapidly in East Asia. Although these developments do not constitute an arms race, they nevertheless have important implications for suppliers of defence equipment, for arms control and for regional stability. This paper assesses trends in the defence spending of East Asian states, particularly in the light of the economic crisis, which began in mid-1997. It also focuses on three closely-related issues: the nature of the regional market for defence equipment; defence industrialisation; and the effect of trends in defence procurement and industrialisation on East Asian states'military capabilities, and on the regional military balance.

This book assesses the extent to which an emphasis on national security and prioritization of state interests has dominated governance policy-making in Northeast and Southeast Asia, at the expense of human security, human development, and human rights. The findings are that in many cases, there are embedded structural obstacles to achieving human-centered governance objectives in the region. These relate to the role of the military, historical authoritarian legacies, and new authoritarian trends. Contributors examine not only the most obvious instances of military domination of governance in the region (North Korea with its “Military First” philosophy, Thailand since the 2014 coup, and Myanmar with its long history of military rule), but also less well known examples of the influence of conflict legacies upon governance in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Laos, as well as the emergence of new reservoirs of power and resources for the forces of authoritarianism.

In a changing security environment shaken by the United States'pivot to Asia, China's rise, growing economic interdependence, new institutional frameworks, and long-standing tensions, regional security dynamics within East Asia have changed profoundly. Non-Traditional Security in East Asia assesses how and why these and other developments have affected East Asian security regimes in the early 21st Century. This volume brings together experts in different areas of traditional and non-traditional security — ranging from arms and weapons proliferation to climate change and biosecurity — to analyze the recent evolution, current state and possible future of East Asian security dynamics which have been built on dynamics dating back to the Cold War. This volume's holistic exploration of East Asian security makes it a sophisticated introduction for students, researchers and policymakers who are interested in East Asian security and international relations.

Security and Conflict in East Asia provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of the sources and implications of conflict on the Korean peninsula and in the People's Republic of China and Japan, the three biggest economies in the world. This analysis provides the building blocks for effective solutions to manage these tensions more effectively, and is a vital resource to those seeking a clearer understanding of conflict in the most pivotal region in the world. In the context of increasingly tense China-US strategic rivalry, the ever-present potential for conflict on the Korean peninsula and over Taiwan, the absence of effective regional institutions and regimes, the emerging arms race in the region, the rise in nationalism and the absence of crisis management mechanisms, there are many good reasons why the high potential exists for miscalculation and misperception sparking a regional conflict. Given the presence of nuclear-armed powers in East Asia, namely, China, North Korea and the USA, it is also possible that any regional conflict could escalate into a nuclear conflict involving the world's three largest economies: the USA, China and Japan. The security of, and any conflict in, East Asia thus has tremendous implications for global security. The Handbook is divided into four parts. The introductory section includes chapters which set the context, explain the history of international relations in East Asia and examine the phenomenon of regional arms race. The second section is made up of a series of chapters focusing on China, examining China's military modernization, its relationship with the USA and the various territorial disputes in which it has been involved. The third section focuses on Japan and North and South Korea, looking at the security challenges facing Japan and the Korean peninsula. A concluding section examines the future role of China and the USA in East Asia, as well as the prospects for managing security in the region. The contributing authors are all experts in their respective fields, and all share an abiding concern over developments in East Asia. Their contributions aim to assist in a better understanding of the issues, to suggest possible solutions, and draw attention to the need for diplomacy, confidence-building measures, crisis management mechanisms and other measures to prevent conflict.This volume will be of use to government institutions involved in foreign policy, intelligence and defence, reference libraries, universities, research institutes, and non-governmental organisations. It will also appeal to analysts, researchers, journalists, policy advisers, students, academics and the general reader. Scholarly analysis is yet to catch up and currently there are no other comprehensive works examining conflict in East Asia in the context of the current tensions.

Complexity, Security and Civil Society in East Asia offers the latest understanding of complex global problems including nuclear weapons, urban insecurity, energy, and climate change in the region. Detailed case studies in China, North and South Korea, and Japan demonstrate the importance of civil society and'civic diplomacy'in reaching shared solutions to these problems in East Asia and beyond. Each chapter describes regional civil society initiatives that tackle complex challenges to East Asia's security. In so doing the book presents key pressure points at which civil society can push for constructive changes ― especially ones that reduce the North Korean threat to its neighbors. Unusually, this book is both theoretical and practical. Complexity, Security and Civil Society in East Asia identifies strategies that can be led by civil society and negotiated by its diplomats to realize peace, security and sustainability worldwide. It shows that networked civic diplomacy offers solutions to these urgent issues in ways that official ‘complex diplomacy'cannot. By providing a new theoretical framework based on empirical observation, the book is a must read for diplomats, scholars, students, journalists, activists and individual readers seeking insight into how to solve the crucial issues of our time.

The tensions between the Koreas—and the potential involvement of China, Japan, Russia, and the United States in a Korean conflict—create a nearly open-ended spectrum of possible conflicts. These conflicts could range from posturing and threats to a major conventional conflict on the Korean peninsula, with intervention by outside powers, to the extreme of nuclear conflict. The Korean balance is also affected by the uncertain mix of cooperation and competition between the United States and China, particularly with the U.S. “pivot” toward Asia and the steady modernization of Chinese forces. This new volume, up to date through Spring 2015, provides a detailed examination of the military forces in Northeast Asia—North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States—setting those forces in the larger geostrategic context.

This book examines the distinctive evolution of the political and economic relationships of East Asia. It does this by placing East Asian development in the unique historical circumstances that have underpinned its rise to power over the last few decades. This detailed analysis provides the basis for an assessment of a unified East Asian region.

The security architecture of the Asia/Pacific region is in a profound transformation. Such changes are not without problems, which are discussed here.

The dynamics of Northeast Asia have traditionally been considered primarily in military and hard security terms or alternatively along their economic dimensions. This book argues that relations among the states of Northeast Asia are far more comprehensible when the mutually shaping interactions between economics and security are considered simultaneously. It examines these interactions and some of the key empirical questions they pose, the answers to which have important lessons for international relations beyond Northeast Asia. Contributors to this volume analyze how the states of the region define their ‘security', and how bilateral relations in hard security issues and economic linkages play out among Japan, China and the two Koreas. Further, the chapters interrogate how different patterns of techno-nationalist development affect regional security ties, and the extent to which closer economic connections enhance or detract from a nation's self-perceived security. The book concludes by discussing scenarios for the future and the conditions that will shape relations between economics and security in the region.This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian politics, Asian economics, security studies and political economy.

This important book focuses on North Korean refugee human rights issues—a topic largely ignored in favor of addressing North Korea's domestic politics and deterrence of Pyongyang's nuclear threat.The first book of its kind, Securitization of Human Rights: North Korean Refugees in East Asia examines the complex problem of'what to do with North Korea'—specifically, regarding human rights issues and treatment of North Korean refugees. The book spotlights four key countries—China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States—with regard to their policy stance towards North Korean human rights issues, analyzing the dynamic tension between realpolitik and moral principle by looking at the regional governments'responses. Rather than focusing only on politics and foreign policy, this book is about the people involved, describing the plight of North Korean refugees, the perspective of South Korean citizens, and the quandary facing power elites in the regional governments.

Mise à part la crainte d'une nouvelle guerre de Corée, des énigmes restent au centre des préoccupations de la communauté internationale. L'une d'elle est liée au processus de succession entamé fin septembre 2010 à Pyongyang. L'autre problème, le plus important, est celui du nucléaire. La dénucléarisation de la Corée du Nord n'a pas abouti, et depuis 1990, les Nord-Coréens ont obtenu tout ce qu'ils exigeaient, y compris de négocier directement avec Washington, sans pour autant renoncer à l'arme atomique.

Since the end of the Cold War the number of interstate wars has remained relatively low, although whilst states may be more secure than ever this does not mean that individual human beings are too. This has led to a growing recognition of the importance of human security, in contrast to the traditional realist focus on state security. This book explores human security in East Asia, focusing in particular on the challenges to collaboration among actors involved in the process of human security promotion. It examines the theoretical complexities of conceptual arguments about human security, drawing on the ideas of scholars from Asia and the West, to provide a global perspective on what causes human insecurity and how security can best be achieved. It considers in detail case studies of military interventions in East Asia, in particular East Timor, and assesses how successful collaborative efforts have been in providing human security. It also explores case studies of non-military intervention, including international criminal justice in Cambodia and East Timor. It discusses the relationship of regional great powers such as China and Japan to human security promotion, arguing that it will be better served if these powers engage less in the traditional game of geopolitics and if human security objectives do not work against actors'interests. It shows how interventions to uphold human security have not always succeeded to the extent that was hoped, despite the best of intentions, and considers how improved collaboration can be achieved, so that future interventions enjoy more consistent success.

Since its partition in the 1950s, the Korean peninsula has directly or indirectly shaped the broader security relations between regional powerhouses, and the recent test of a nuclear weapon by the North Korean regime has heightened tensions across the world. This study draws upon contributions from a diverse array of experts who offer their perspectives on the region's complex network of alliances and hostilities. The authors discuss the future of the region, the potential for military conflict and a new arms race, and the ways to maintain peace and stability.Since its partition in the 1950s, the Korean peninsula has directly or indirectly shaped the broader security relations between regional powerhouses, while the recent test of a nuclear weapon by the North Korean regime has heightened tensions across the world. Japan, feeling increasingly threatened by the North Korean regime and China's extravagant military expenditures, has begun questioning Article IX in its Constitution that renounces war and the maintenance of armed forces. Its neighbors, still haunted by Japanese atrocities during World War II, are fearful of a new nuclear arms race in the region. The United States, for its part, has adopted unprecedented hard-line policies in response to 9/11, going so far as to condemn North Korea as part of an axis of evil. It has strengthened its alliance with Japan and alienated its long-time strategic partner South Korea. Add to this the economic entanglements of each of these countries both with each other and with the rest of the world, and the regional security issues become even more paramount.This study makes sense of these complex alliances and frictions and offers an array of perspectives on the future of the region, the potential for military conflict and a new arms race, and the ways to maintain peace and stability. Topics include big power rivalries, South Korea's sunshine policy, anti-Americanism, and emerging nationalisms.

Based on primary resources, including documents and extensive interviews with Japanese policy makers, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed empirical analysis of Japan's involvement in Asia-Pacific security multilateralism after the end of the Cold War with special reference to the ARF. Giving an in-depth account of new developments in Japan's post-Cold War security policy, Yuzawa also examines: Japan's initial motivations, expectations and objectives for promoting regional security multilateralism Japan's diplomacy for achieving these objectives and experiences in the ARF since its formation the effectiveness and limitations of the ARF with regards national and Asia-Pacific security the effects of Japan's experiences in the ARF on its initial conception of regional securty multilateralism and the implications of this for the direction of its overall security policy problems and difficulties that arose as a result of Japan's post-Cold War security policy of simultaneously pursuing two different security approaches - namely the strengthening of regional security institutions and the Japan-US alliance. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Japanese security studies, as well as international relations, Asian politics and international organizations.

New developments in the Asia Pacific are forcing regional officials to rethink the way they manage security issues. The contributors to this work explore why some forms of security cooperation and institutionalisation in the region have proven more feasible than others. This work describes the emergence of the professions in late tsarist Russia and their struggle for autonomy from the aristocratic state. It also examines the ways in which the Russian professions both resembled and differed from their Western counterparts.

Most studies of Asia-Pacific security are marked by pessimism and continuing belief in the virtues of a balance of power. Pacific Asia? goes against the grain by pointing to a number of positive developments—especially economic—in regional relationships, the absence of an arms race, the growth of multilateral groups, and an emerging consensus on the importance of nonmilitary paths to national security. Above all, Mel Gurtov stresses a definition of security that focuses on basic human needs, social justice, and environmental protection. The author disagrees with proponents of a China threat, criticizes U.S. Cold War notions of security through forward-based power, and argues for new efforts at regional dialogue based on multilateral cooperation, sensitivity to Asian nationalism, and a role for Japan as a'global civilian power.'

East Asia has been relatively free from large-scale conflict in the 1990s, but the absence of security organisations or even of a sense of community within the region has raised doubts about its future security. China and Japan are likely to bear much of the responsibility for maintaining stability, but both countries have been reluctant to adopt a leadership role. South-east Asian states have been willing to take the initiative outside of their sub-region, but they possess neither the resources nor the authority to lead the whole of East Asia. In the long term, the ability to organise the region depends on greater clarity in the identity of leading states in the region, and of the region as a whole. This paper analyses the way in which issues of identity have affected the actions of the key players, and assesses future challenges and possibilities in the search for regional security. It concludes that: Through the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), South-east Asian states have developed a sense of confidence and unity. However, ASEAN's need to safeguard its newly acquired identity means that it has not exported the ‘ASEAN way'to the wider region of East Asia or the Asia-Pacific. The greater diversity that enlargement will bring and the effects of the crisis since 1997 are likely to make the Association's defensive instincts still more resistant to change. In the 1990s, Japan has sought to redefine its identity, both in terms of its past and of its post-war values such as pacifism and human rights. This process has compelled Japan to face Asia more squarely, and has increased the country's self-assurance. As a result, it may become more willing to take the initiative in political and security, as well as economic, areas. For China, nationalism has become more important, just as communism's position as the country's unifying ideology has eroded. Beijing has tried to change the status quo in a forceful way. By the close of the 1990s, however, China has become increasingly willing to act as a responsible world power. A key test of this transformation will be Beijing's treatment of the Taiwan question. The prospects for regional stability depend on Japan's ability to reform and return to growth. The most pressing task is to revitalise East Asia's economies. A return to prosperity would encourage China's reform and opening process; lessen Japan's introspection; make disagreements between the South-east Asian states less acute; and allow the Asia-Pacific region as a whole to move beyond both the triumphalism of the East Pacific and the resentment of the West.

First Published in 2005. This is Adelphi Paper 299 and discusses a strategy for the Unites States of America for the continued stability of the Asia-Pacific region. Looking at ways in which the US-dominated system of Asia-Pacific security that evolved during the Cold War must be fundamentally transformed to determine its security in the future.

The implications of the rapid growth of East Asian countries in the post-Cold War world.The future of East Asian security has become a critically important topic in the post-Cold War world. Virtually all of the Asia-Pacific countries are enjoying rapid economic growth, but many remain wary of their neighbors. Unlike every other region of the world, East Asia's military spending continues to accelerate. East Asian Security addresses some of the most important strategic questions about the future of the region.