Asian Regional Institutions and the Possibilities for Socializing the Behavior of States

Departing from the traditional yardsticks for measuring the performance and effectiveness of regional institutions, this paper proposes a new framework to investigate their effect in the socialization (i.e. internalization of group norms by newcomers) of new members. Called Type III internalization, it represents a middle ground between Type I (i.e. member states simply acting according to group expectations, even if they may not agree with them), and Type II (i.e. states transforming themselves by adopting the interests and identities of the group) internalization. In Type III internalization, states act both instrumentally and normatively. While their interests and values do not change permanently, there is enough change to induce substantially new kinds of cooperative behavior, in trade and security. Type III internalization is non-legalistic and consensual, moving at a pace in which everyone is comfortable, but there is no danger of backtracking. New members moderate their competitive instincts and pursue common objectives. The impact of institutional norms such as “open regionalism” and “cooperative security” transmitted through institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the ASEAN Regional Forum on Viet Nam, India, and the People's Republic of China attests to the existence of a Type III internalization.Asia; regional institutions; Asian regional institutions; constructivism; socialization; institution-design; multilateralism

Foundations of Collective Action in Asia: Theory and Practice of Regional Cooperation

This paper argues that the collective action in Asia by its regional organizations has historically suffered from a “capability–legitimacy gap”: a disjuncture between the capability (in terms of material resources) of major Asian powers to lead regional cooperation on the one hand and their political legitimacy and will as regional leaders on the other. Successful collective action requires leadership with both capability (as suggested by rationalist theories) and legitimacy (as suggested by constructivist approaches). A central point of the paper is that the putative or aspiring leaders of Asian regionalism throughout the post-war period never had both.asian regionalism; regional cooperation; asian regional cooperation

Europa en el “orden mundial multiplex” emergente

La victoria de Donald Trump en las elecciones presidenciales estadounidenses de 2016 ha provocado una gran preocupación por el futuro del orden liberal internacional. Hasta la llegada de Trump a escena se daba generalmente por supuesto que el principal desafío a este orden vendría especialmente de las potencias emergentes, encabezadas por China. Por consiguiente,el debate se ha centrado principalmente en el traspaso de poder mundial. Irónicamente, hoy la capacidad de las potencias emergentes para desafiar de inmediato al orden liberal se ha debilitado. A muchas de ellas, incluidas Brasil y Sudáfrica, las cosas no les están yendo tan bien. Y en cambio, el orden liberal está implosionando. La victoria de Trump y el Brexit sugieren que el principal desafío viene también desde dentro

11. Fiscal Burden Sharing

The authors argue that a reformulated system of refugee protection must proceed using a distributive-developmental framework for fiscal burden sharing. Such a framework would have to appeal to the national security interests of donors, rather than to humanitarian or altruistic motives. The funds provided should be tied to concrete, time-specified goals which will contribute to the well being of refugees. They argue that this approach should be pursued parallel to the existing system of multilateral institutions. The framework envisions resources being channelled to regional institutions rather than national governments. This is a substantially abbreviated version of the authors' original work. Please refer to the notice at the end of this section if you are interested in obtaining a full copy of the paper, which is expected to be published in mid-1996

Why is there no non-Western International Relations theory? Ten years on

A decade ago in 2007 we published a forum in International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (IRAP) on ‘Why there is no non-Western IR theory?’. Now we revisit this project ten years on, and assess the current state of play. What we do in this article is first, to survey and assess the relevant literature that has come out since then; second, to set out four ways in which our own understanding of this issue has evolved since 2007; third to reflect on some ways in which Asian IR might contribute to the emergence of what we call ‘Global IR’; and fourth to look specifically at hierarchy as an issue on which East Asian IR scholars might have a comparative advantage. Our aim is to renew, and perhaps refocus, the challenge to Asian IR scholars, and our hope is that this will contribute to the building of Global I

The human face of security: Asia-Pacific perspectives

This is an edited collection of papers about the meanings of human security in an Asian-Pacific context, stemming from a conference held in New Zealand in 2001

Rising Powers and Order Contestation: Disaggregating the Normative from the Representational

One of the central themes of the current literature on rising powers is that new aspirants to great power status pose a challenge to the underlying principles and norms that underpin the existing, Western-led order. However, in much of the literature, the nature and significance of rising powers for international order is imprecisely debated, in particular the concept and practice of ‘contestation’. In this article we aim to establish a distinction between normative contestation and what can be thought of as ‘contestation over representation’: that is, contestation over who is setting and overseeing the rules of the game rather than the content of the rules themselves and the kind of order that they underpin. This distinction is important for providing a more nuanced understanding of the nature of the current power transition and therefore for guiding attempts at accommodation on the part of the established powers. Theoretically, the paper engages with debates on international order and international society. Its empirical basis is provided by a thorough analysis of the discourse of rising power summitry, in particular at meetings of the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization groupings