The Making of a Global Economic Player? An Appraisal of South Korea's Role in Myanmar

Suddenly and unexpectedly, a er several decades as Asia’s backwater and basket case of interna onal development, Myanmar was thrust to the center stage of international attention in 2011. The country’s political opening has paved the way for greater engagement by interna onal players, old and new. South Korea and the United States are no excep on, with Korea doubling its development assistance, trade, and investment in the country in less than ve years. Myanmar serves as an excellent vantage point to observe Korea’s evolving role in interna onal a airs, especially in terms of its Asian engagement. Pragma sm drives the rela onship, with Nay Pyi Taw trying to diversify its foreign policy and a ract more investment, while Seoul seeks to expand foreign economic rela ons, extend the domes c market, and secure access to new resources. The paper’s main conten on is that while striving to ar culate a dis nc ve regional and global role for itself which goes beyond the usual ‘aid-trade-investment’ triad, turning economic rela onships into poli cal ones has proven di cult, and thus, Seoul remains more of a ‘payer’ than a ‘player.’ Economic coopera on with Myanmar has widened and deepened, but South Korea’s poli cal leadership has not been able to build on this momentum. Tackling this issue is important at a me when Korea needs to remind the new U.S. administra on, which sees Seoul primarily through the prism of the North Korean nuclear issue and the tensions with China, of its strategic relevance. Myanmar offers South Korea the opportunity to enhance its interna onal role beyond the immediate neighborhood.Publisher PD

South Korea’s engagement of Central Asia from the end of the Cold War to the "New Asia Initiative"

This paper examines South Korea’s engagement in Central Asia as a case study of the country’s broader efforts to establish itself as a more assertive regional and global economic and political player. Embedding the analysis in the account of the evolving nature of Korean-Central Asian relations over the past two decades, the paper locates Korea’s policy towards the region within its attempts to tackle energy vulnerability. Without the “political baggage” that accompanies the presence of other major players, Korea’s economically-driven country-specific strategy is yielding significant results.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Kumtor gold mine and the rise of resource nationalism in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan’s mining sector has become the battleground on which a number of players, namely the government, the opposition, local communities, and transnational corporations, defend their interests. No other site illustrates this point more than the country’s most prized asset, namely the gold mine at Kumtor, located some 350 kilometers south-east of the capital city of Bishkek. Kumtor is the country’s main source of hard currency, a vital contributor to the country’s GDP, and the single largest private employer. Since 1997, when production started, Kumtor has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the small Central Asian republic’s socio-economic and political life.Publisher PD

Scoxit può attendere

Mentre l’indipendentismo catalano porta la Spagna sull’orlo della dissoluzione, la leadership del partito nazionale scozzese (SNP), in occasione della conferenza di partito tenutasi a Glasgow il 9 ed il 10 ottobre, di fatto ha posto la questione di un nuovo referendum sull’indipendenza della Scozia (l’indyref2, come viene chiamato qui) in ibernazione, almeno nel breve periodo . La simpatia per la causa catalana è forte. Si notano bandiere catalane per le strade di Edinburgo e le campagne del Fife, nonché, come era prevedibile, alla conferenza dell’SNP. Il parlamento di Edinburgo (‘Holyrood’) ha approvato una mozione di censura nei confronti delle autorità spagnole per la repressione delle manifestazioni in Catalogna. In realtà, la Scozia e la Catalogna sono alquanto distanti, non tanto a livello sentimentale, quanto a realtà politiche ed economiche. Al di là delle dichiarazioni di facciata , il realismo prevale ad Edinburgo. Le differenze sono infatti sostanziali. La Scozia ha avuto, e perso, il suo referendum il 18 settembre 2014. Pur avendo promesso che questo sarebbe stato un unicum (‘once in a generation’), l’SNP ha cercato di capitalizzare sul voto pro-Remain della Scozia nel referendum sulla UE del 2016 – dove la Scozia ha votato in massa (62%) per rimanere nell’Unione Europea. Questo breve contributo analizza le implicazioni delle dinamiche catalane per la Scozia. In particolare si sofferma sulle ragioni che hanno portato l’indipendentismo scozzese allo stallo attuale. Perché, dopo un periodo in cui il sostegno per l’indipendenza è aumentato, la Scozia ha cambiato opinione? In che modo la Brexit condizionerà le dinamiche tra unionisti e indipendentisti scozzesi? Gli effetti del referendum catalano sulla Scozia saranno modesti. Il destino della Scozia e del movimento indipendentista saranno decisi dalle dinamiche interne al Regno Unito, a loro volta influenzate dai negoziati sul ritiro del Regno Unito dall’Unione Europea (Brexit). Indipendenza? Sì certo, ma al momento ci sono altre priorità.PostprintNon peer reviewe

Growing inter-Asian connections: Links, rivalries, and challenges in South Korean–Central Asian relations

AbstractThe geopolitical context, which emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, combined with Korea's growing economic prowess, enabled greater dynamism and diversification in Seoul's foreign policy-making. Growing pressure from energy-intensive economies coupled with new developments and investment in logistics and infrastructure has brought different parts of the Eurasian landmass closer together in recent years. Inter-Asian connections are especially growing. This article uses the case of deepening relations between Korea and the post-Soviet Central Asian republics as a vantage point to reflect on one such example of unfolding Asian inter-connectedness. In addition it sees Seoul's engagement in the region as a fitting example of Korea's broader ambitions to assert itself as a global economic player. The article shows that Korea's policy toward Central Asia has been primarily driven by energy needs and is defined by pragmatism. It finds that the economic dimension of the relationship has greatly overshadowed other aspects such as politics and security. In its pursuit of closer ties with the region Seoul has sought to turn structural weaknesses into added value and has attempted to develop a distinctive, non-threatening profile built around the lack of a political baggage and geopolitical ambitions, and the desire to share its experience of formerly impoverished turned leading economy. In turn, Central Asia's selective integration in the world economy has continued, also thanks to its ties with Korea. The Central Asian republics welcomed the opportunity to diversify their foreign relations, the sources of foreign investment and export routes. At the same time the opaque business environment, a leadership succession, which cannot be postponed for much longer, and Seoul's “no-strings attached” approach expose Korea to some risks as regime stability might not last forever

Luang Prabang : climate change and rapid development

Few other Asian cities have been as orientalised as Luang Prabang, the former capital of the Royal Kingdom of Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Situated on the banks of the Mekong River, Luang Prabang has historically been a hub for trade and culture in upland Southeast Asia. The internationalisation engendered by the country's economic reforms and rapid opening up to and integration in regional and transnational economic processes has led to a surge in investment, trade, development assistance and tourist flows. All this has brought opportunities for the residents of Luang Prabang, but such sudden development has also led to socioeconomic dislocation and challenges to both the physical and social fabric of the city. This profile of Luang Prabang looks at the town's geographical location and physical context. This is followed by an account of how spatial use has evolved and the pressures it is under, particularly following the spike in tourist arrivals that followed the city's inscription as a World Heritage site. The article highlights the city's environmental vulnerabilities, zooming in on the impact of climate change which compounds the challenges of rapid development. Far from being fixed in timelessness, the town truly lies at the nexus of local and global processes, experiencing and shaping change, and negotiating the tensions between conservation and development.PostprintPeer reviewe

Order in Asia beyond power transition : understanding China's rise, changing international roles and grand strategies

This article takes stock of the advances in research on the implications of China's rise for regional order in East Asia. Together, the four books discussed in this essay contribute to scholarly debates thus far by and large informed by power transition theory. Specifically, the books' main contribution is to return interactions and relationships to the mainstream of International Relations whilst also making China central to theorizing in the field. They draw on constructivist and critical approaches and contribute refreshing theoretical insights, thoughtfully blended with sociological and historical reflections. The authors also discuss a wide range of empirical issues relating to the changes in East Asian regional order, from financial and economic governance to China's various strategic interactions and the Sino-Russian relationship. As power transition theory has received considerable attention of late, this author calls on scholars to pay more attention to other theoretical approaches and to new empirical issues that illustrate China's approach to regional and global affairs.PostprintPeer reviewe

Myanmar 2022 : fragmented sovereignties and the escalation of violence in multiple warscapes

The events that followed the military coup of February 2021, and the violence that ensued throughout 2022 serve as stark reminders that any notion that Myanmar is and operates as a single polity are a fiction, and one that neither captures the complex reality on the ground nor serves to guide policy to contain violence and assist the population on the ground. Instead, Myanmar is currently home to a variety of constantly evolving geographies of war (‘warscapes’), which largely differ from each other in terms of the actors involved, alliances, agendas and outcomes. An analysis of the political dynamics in these warscapes, the economic situation therein, and the degree of transnational ties and involvement suggests the emergence of a condition of fragmented sovereignty across the territory of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Just like in the pre-2011 period, when the prevailing narrative was one of Myanmar’s international isolation, the regime actually entertains a wide range of relations with countries both close and afar. Russia, in particular, has emerged as the junta’s strongest backer. The military regime is among the staunchest supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The economy and the livelihoods of millions have been devastated by the violence. Western investors have mostly retreated. The economy barely functions. Aid supply has become difficult to provide due to increasing regulation and restrictions. Neither side was able to prevail in 2022, with multiple conflicts protracted, when not intractable, and violence escalating.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The dynamics of Uzbek ethno-political mobilization in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (1991-2003)

This dissertation investigates the strategies and forms of Uzbek ethno-political mobilization in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In particular, the research asks why Uzbek communities in those two countries did not resort to ethnically motivated violence as many either predicted or feared, but have instead turned to a "quiet politics" of identity and ethnicity.Reconciling state and national identities has proved remarkably complex in Central Asia, given that all the five republics in the region are home to a largely heterogeneous population. Understanding what place state elites have allocated to non titular groups, and how these relate themselves to the new polity offers an interesting vantage point on the process of post-Soviet transformation. This is particularly the case as ethnic minority mobilization represents a relatively unexplored field of research in scholarship on post-communist Eurasia. This dissertation seeks to fill the gap in this area by developing a focused comparison of Uzbek minorities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from 1991 until 2003Through a combination of various quantitative (small-scale surveys) and qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis) structural, ideational, and agential factors are taken into account. It is the contention of this thesis that Uzbek political behaviour can be explained as a product of a strategic calculation by the leaders of the Uzbek community in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that any change in the administration would leave them "worse off', despite existing and un-addressed political and cultural demands. This has shaped a counter-intuitive type of mobilization, supportive of the status quo in the state structure of power. A focus on ideas and agency also accounts for variations between the two cases. In particular group leadership appears more articulate and vocal in Kyrgyzstan, whereas it lies in a state of virtual collapse in Tajikistan. A changeadverse strategy among Uzbeks should not be seen as a permanent condition, though. Especially if grievances are not met, Uzbek loyalty should no longer be taken for granted, as recent evens in Kyrgyzstan appear to suggest

“Identity through difference” : liminal diasporism and generational change among the Koryo saram in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

The article is a case study of the Koryo saram, the ethnic Koreans living in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, to reflect on how notions of diasporas, community and identity have changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It contends that the Koryo saram are best understood through the lenses of diasporic conditions rather than as bounded communities as such an approach allows for greater recognition of heterogeneity within such communities. While many Koryo saram continue to claim some form of Korean-ness, how they related to issues of homeland-orientation and boundary maintenance evidences internal variation and growing in-betweenness. The community’s hybridity (“hyphenization”) and liminality (“identity through difference”) stand out when examining generational differences and are especially evident among the local Korean youth.PostprintPeer reviewe