Following the failure at mitigating the 1997 economic crisis and other political turmoils within Asia, ASEAN’s credibility was challenged by political scholars. As non-state centric threats such as the economic crisis are becoming recurring issues within the region, it has come ever more important to assess how well the institution is at consolidating issues and strengthening Southeast Asia.
Purpose
In the article “Does ASEAN Matter? International Relations Theories, Institutional Realism and ASEAN” the author, Kai He asserts that mainstream international relations theories that have assessed ASEAN overlook the value of the institution. He concludes that institutional realism best explains why ASEAN is still an important multilateral institution in the region. The article is a response to the fact that mainstream international relations theories have been unable to effectively explain and predict the role or importance of ASEAN within Southeast Asia. He develops his argument by firstly looking at ASEAN from a framework of neorealism, neoliberalism, and constructivism. He compares and evaluates each of the three theories and argues that each one has limitations to explaining whether ASEAN matters. Consequently, the author saw the need to use a less well-known theory such as Institutional Realism to more accurately analyse the importance of the institution and from this he provides recommendations on how to further consolidate power within ASEAN.
Theories
Kai He’s article is embedded in theoretical and conceptual discourse. He begins his arguments about ASEAN’s importance from neorealist, neoliberal and constructivist perspectives and then compares this to institutional realism. With all the theories he examines the...
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He, Kai. “Does Asean Matter? International Relations Theories, Institutional Realism, and ASEAN.” Asian Security vol. 2, no. 3 (2006): pp. 189-214. March 16. http://www.tandfonline.com.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/doi/pdf/10.1080/14799850600920460
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Asia Policy 10, 144-151. Retrieved from NBR The National Bureau of Asian Research website: http://www.nbr.org/
Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Throughout the nation’s 2000-year history, Cambodia, a developing Southeast Asian country located on the Indochina Peninsula, has experienced a number of glories and tragedies; as a matter of fact, it was until 1993 that the democratic election, supported by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), were conducted to restore peace in Cambodia under a coalition government (CIA World Factbook, 2013). In order to transform from the negative peace which is just the absent of direct violence to the positive peace meaning the absent of cultural and structural violence, Cambodia, the younger member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been trying as hard as possible to address the problem of inequality with the obvious hope that if inequality is not natural, according to Hobbes, but rather constructed, there are probably chances to level down its impacts or even demolish its existence.
Yves, B. (2000). The Economies of Transistion in Loas: From Socialism to ASEAN Integration. Northhampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
Nuclear issue in the North Korea has been a problem widely discussed around the world in recent years, while the whole progress from the start of the nuclear crisis (The withdrawal of the North Korea from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003) to the cooperation (Six Party Talks) and its failure is quite dramatic and worth exploring (Fang, 2009). This paper attempted to use two perspectives including neorealism and neoliberalism to look at the issue, and examine their explanatory power. Accordingly, this paper recognized the importance of the two perspectives in explaining the issue. On one hand, neorealism showed the restraints and balancing behaviors of the states during the process of negotiation, implying the failure of the talks. On the other hand, neoliberalism contributed to clarification of the complexity constituted by different actors and problems in the issue, while demonstrating the rationality of states, as well as the birth of the institution forming international norms. Therefore, the author believed the two perspectives are not contradictory, but complementary.
Globalization has become one of the most influential forces in the twentieth century. International integration of world views, products, trade and ideas has caused a variety of states to blur the lines of their borders and be open to an international perspective. The merger of the Europeans Union, the ASEAN group in the Pacific and NAFTA in North America is reflective of the notion of globalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement was the largest free trade zone in the world at its conception and set an example for the future of liberalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement is coming into it's twentieth anniversary on January 1st, 2014. 1 NAFTA not only sought to enhance the trade of goods and services across the borders of Canada, US and Mexico but it fostered shared interest in investment, transportation, communication, border relations, as well as environmental and labour issues. The North American Free Trade Agreement was groundbreaking because it included Mexico in the arrangement.2 Mexico was a much poorer, culturally different and protective country in comparison to the likes of Canada and the United States. Many members of the U.S Congress were against the agreement because they did not want to enter into an agreement with a country that had an authoritarian regime, human rights violations and a flawed electoral system.3 Both Canadians and Americans alike, feared that Mexico's lower wages and lax human rights laws would generate massive job losses in their respected economies. Issues of sovereignty came into play throughout discussions of the North American Free Trade Agreement in Canada. Many found issue with the fact that bureaucrats and politicians from alien countries would be making deci...
From the realist point of view, the international political system is considered as anarchic. There is a lack of external authority among states that ensures peace, stability and balance of power. In the analyzed document, the author's main thesis states that changes of the system would alter the international political system. However, changes within the system will maintain its anarchism. In order to support his thesis, the author replies to liberal critics, who consider the neorealism as obsolete taking into account three important arguments against the neorealism.
Mahbubani argues that global dominance is moving to the east primarily due to the United States incompetence (weakness) and growing capability of Asian nations. He furthers this notion by strongly indicating that the West is inhibiting Asian progress. Mahbubani further indicates that the west has lost its legitimacy due to violating international protocol. Mahbabani recommends a return to domestic good governance and specifies that some Asian countries are now ready to join the west in becoming “responsible custodian” (pp. 4) of the global order.
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In this essay we look in-depth on how government strategies and economic policy play a crucial role in the success of High Performance Asian Economies (HPAEs) during 1960 to 1990 (World Bank 1993).There are eight countries within HPAEs: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan. Its economic development has significantly rise that it was name ‘East Asia Miracle’ (World Bank, 1993).
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) began in 1989 in reaction to the developing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies. At first this organization was a group that met unofficially. APEC now has become the crucial provincial conduit for encouraging open trade and realistic economic cooperation. It’s objective is to progress Asia-Pacific economic vitality and the essence of the people.
The relationship and cooperation in handling the issue in Southern Thailand between Malaysia and Thailand government since a long time ago, has become disappointed, frustration and unsatisfied. This is might be best description that has been looked up since the working relations between past Thai governments and their Malaysian counterparts was comes to Southern Thailand (Thanet, 2013). For the Thailand government, cooperation with the Malaysian authorities is really needed while in dealing with the separatist insurgents that often to the slip across the porous border from Thailand. Meanwhile, for the Malaysian side, through the sharing of same ethnicity and Islamic religion in the Southern Thai Muslims, was means that their politicians ought to have a key role to play in understanding and resolving insurgency issues in Southern Thailand. Therefore, it might can be seem in logically think that, without the help by the Malaysian government, the issues that regards to Muslim separatist moments in the Deep South would be difficul...
Doyle, Michael W. and G. John Ikenberry, eds. (1997) New Thinking in International Relations Theory. Boulder, CO: Westview Pres.
Sud¯, & o, S. (2002). The international relations of japan and south east asia : Forging a new regionalism. London; New York: Routledge.
4) Pesek Jr., William. “Vietnam Embraces Globalization on Own Terms.” Manila Times. 21 November 2002. 29 December 2003