Peace and Security Studies in Southeast Asia in a Changing Global Environment

Peace and security studies in Southeast Asia show a rich array of theoretical and policy-oriented research that highlights key themes in the prevention and management of conflicts. These themes also highlight salient concepts that define approaches to peace and security. Two themes are noteworthy. First, while peace and security are not mutually exclusive, security cannot be assured by focusing on negative peace alone but also by a purposeful pursuit of positive peace, hence comprehensive security is critical. The second theme is the importance of regional institutions like ASEAN in managing intra-state relations. Given the fluid state of the global security environment, there is now greater scope for new thinking on how approaches to peace and security can be made more responsive to achieve shared goal

The Future of Nuclear Security in the Asia-Pacific: Expanding the Role of Southeast Asia

The nature of regional cooperation on capacity building taking place in Southeast Asia certainly provides a good foundation to pursue a more robust collaborative framework for nuclear security in the wider Asia-Pacific region. A step in this regard is to have a regional action plan/roadmap for nuclear security in the Asia-Pacific that could institutionalize cooperation between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries in the wider region, fostering closer collaboration. The paper recommends three practical mechanisms to expand cooperation frameworks in Southeast Asia to the broader Asia-Pacific region: (1) strengthening regional capacity building in nuclear security; (2) establishing an ASEAN-Northeast Asia network of nuclear security centers of excellence (COEs) and knowledge centers; and (3) enhancing regional nuclear emergency preparedness and response. The article also explores the future of collaboration among International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN) members in the Asia-Pacific region, with Southeast Asian members as key drivers, to further strengthen regional nuclear security governance through sustainable nuclear security education

Peaceful Change in Southeast Asia: The Historical and Institutional Bases

During the 1960s and 1970s, Southeast Asia was referred to as the Balkans of Asia. The region has, however, gone through significant transformations and seen peaceful change since the end of the Cold War despite ongoing great-power interference, the rise of China as a military and economic power, and a series of territorial disputes including the South China Sea issue. This chapter explores the historical and institutional bases that have contributed to the process of peaceful change in Southeast Asia. It argues that peaceful change has evolved and been maintained by the Southeast Asian states by adopting strategies that combine the realist, liberalist, and constructivist approaches. The chapter concludes by discussing the changing nature of security challenges and how the region has been responding to these threats

Human Security in Southeast Asia : 20 Years in Review

The concept of human security gained prominence in Southeast Asia in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. In a rapidly changing ASEAN, the list of human insecurities covers issues of both development and security, and fall within the ambit of both freedom from want and freedom from fear. But while human security has gained traction 20 years since the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report, more needs to be done to translate discourse into action. This article argues that in order to advance human security ASEAN states must be imbued with the political will to act decisively in addressing human insecurities and to work with other actors in promoting protection and empowerment of people and communities

Examining Southeast Asia’s Diplomacy on Nuclear Disarmament and Nuclear Security: Shared Norms and a Regional Agenda

Member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) support the norms of nuclear disarmament and nuclear security through diplomatic efforts at the global level and regional efforts to promote nuclear safety and security. This is demonstrated in how ASEAN helped push for negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and its eventual passage, as well as ongoing efforts to promote regional cooperation in advancing nuclear security and nuclear safety. Regional frameworks and mechanisms like the ASEAN Network of Regulatory Bodies on Atomic Energy (ASEANTOM), the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the East Asia Summit provide the platforms for ASEAN to advance its diplomacy in promoting the norms of nuclear governance

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

The challenges of the increasing institutionalization of climate security

A rapid and widespread institutionalization of climate security is underway, led by powerful states and international organizations. Recognition of the climate crisis by security actors as a serious threat to humanity is long overdue, but it is imperative that this institutionalization is critically scrutinized. This commentary highlights specific dangers that accompany the institutional mainstreaming of climate security, including a non-reflexive integration into traditional security paradigms, a growing geopolitical separation between discourses emerging from the Global South and North, and policymaking that tends to draw from a narrow view of the science. Science-based and actionable research informed by pluralistic understandings of climate security is needed to counter this trend

Democratization and foreign policy in Southeast Asia: the case of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Cambridge Review of International Affairs Vol. 22, Iss. 3, 2009 as published in the CAMBRIDGE REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09557570903104008

Forced migration: some sobering realities

There is an unprecedented global phenomenon of people uprooted and displaced due to conflicts and disasters. The need to contain and reverse this trend is dire. The immensity of the problem requires no less than a global solution, underscoring a shared responsibility among different actors of the international community

ASEAN response : pushing back vaccine nationalism

As ASEAN economic ministers meet virtually this week to deal with, among other things, the severe impacts of COVID-19, their crucial task should be to strengthen multilateral cooperation. ASEAN should rally its dialogue partners and the private sector to make vaccines available to all. Can ASEAN centrality help push back the worrying trend of vaccine nationalism?Published versio