Pub Date : 2022-06-06DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098475
A. Passeri
Myanmar’s 2021 military coup paved the way for a ruthless weaponisation of the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at crushing opposition groups and ethnic minorities who opposed the army’s power grab. The manipulation of natural disasters for political purposes, however, is nothing new for Burmese praetorian regimes, which employed a similar strategy in the aftermath of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in order to further marginalise and subjugate their internal enemies. To a large extent, such a callous decision stems from the powerful political implications brought about by natural disasters, which are perceived by authoritarian leaders as exogenous shocks capable of triggering a process of heightened popular contestation and regime change. In the case of Myanmar, this specific fear thus persuaded military rulers to weaponise the impact of natural calamities and health crises as part of a longstanding counterinsurgency playbook, centred on the so-called ‘four cuts’ doctrine. As a result, those who do not conform with the Bamar-Buddhist image of Myanmar professed by the army—or dare to criticise its dominant position in Burmese politics—have been deliberately excluded from post-disaster relief efforts, in what appears as a further testament of the junta’s unwavering resolve in retaining the reins of power. Building upon the existing literature on the political implications of natural hazards in authoritarian settings, the following article sheds light on the drivers and rationale that persuaded Myanmar’s Generals to weaponise humanitarian crisis against ethnic minorities and opposition forces, by looking at the two case-studies provided by Cyclone Nargis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
{"title":"Authoritarian Rule and the Weaponisation of Natural Disasters: The Case of Myanmar from Cyclone Nargis to the COVID-19 Pandemic (2008–2021)","authors":"A. Passeri","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098475","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098475","url":null,"abstract":"Myanmar’s 2021 military coup paved the way for a ruthless weaponisation of the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at crushing opposition groups and ethnic minorities who opposed the army’s power grab. The manipulation of natural disasters for political purposes, however, is nothing new for Burmese praetorian regimes, which employed a similar strategy in the aftermath of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in order to further marginalise and subjugate their internal enemies. To a large extent, such a callous decision stems from the powerful political implications brought about by natural disasters, which are perceived by authoritarian leaders as exogenous shocks capable of triggering a process of heightened popular contestation and regime change. In the case of Myanmar, this specific fear thus persuaded military rulers to weaponise the impact of natural calamities and health crises as part of a longstanding counterinsurgency playbook, centred on the so-called ‘four cuts’ doctrine. As a result, those who do not conform with the Bamar-Buddhist image of Myanmar professed by the army—or dare to criticise its dominant position in Burmese politics—have been deliberately excluded from post-disaster relief efforts, in what appears as a further testament of the junta’s unwavering resolve in retaining the reins of power. Building upon the existing literature on the political implications of natural hazards in authoritarian settings, the following article sheds light on the drivers and rationale that persuaded Myanmar’s Generals to weaponise humanitarian crisis against ethnic minorities and opposition forces, by looking at the two case-studies provided by Cyclone Nargis and the COVID-19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"280 - 300"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44856298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-06DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098469
M. F. Karim, Rona Nabila
This article examines the variety of roles enacted by Asia-Pacific middle powers in response to the rise of China. This article identifies two factors determining such variety, especially in the security realm: alignment pattern and geopolitical constraints. We argue that the differences in level of alignment with the United States and the risk of geopolitical tension with China affect the role conception taken by the middle powers. We assert that the combination of a high-level of alignment and high geopolitical risk tends to cause them to take a bridging role, a low-level of alignment and low geopolitical risk drive them to take the role of regional leader, a high-level of alignment and low geopolitical risk allow them to become faithful allies, and a low-level of alignment and high geopolitical risk enable them to take an active independent role. We illustrate this framework through the comparative analysis of Indonesia, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam.
{"title":"Role Conception of the Asia-Pacific Middle Powers: Comparative Analysis of Indonesia, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam","authors":"M. F. Karim, Rona Nabila","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098469","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the variety of roles enacted by Asia-Pacific middle powers in response to the rise of China. This article identifies two factors determining such variety, especially in the security realm: alignment pattern and geopolitical constraints. We argue that the differences in level of alignment with the United States and the risk of geopolitical tension with China affect the role conception taken by the middle powers. We assert that the combination of a high-level of alignment and high geopolitical risk tends to cause them to take a bridging role, a low-level of alignment and low geopolitical risk drive them to take the role of regional leader, a high-level of alignment and low geopolitical risk allow them to become faithful allies, and a low-level of alignment and high geopolitical risk enable them to take an active independent role. We illustrate this framework through the comparative analysis of Indonesia, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"231 - 254"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47859718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-06DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098467
H. Park
The purpose of this article is to ascertain North Korea’s ‘real’ nuclear strategy. This article uses the ‘Strategy = Ends + Ways + Means’ construct for the ascertainment, and it makes comparisons to Pakistan’s nuclear strategy. This article found that North Korea’s goal of its nuclear armament was as ideological and aggressive as Pakistan’s, and that its nuclear strategy is closer to the ‘minimal deterrence strategy’ than Pakistan’s. North Korea seems more desperate than Pakistan because of its dire economic situation and the uncertain future of the Kim family dynasty. It could, therefore, try to achieve its goal, the reunification of South Korea, as soon as it has sufficient capabilities for the strategy. The United States and South Korea should be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is North Korea’s reunification war against South Korea under the threat of nuclear attack on the US mainland and South Korea.
{"title":"An Investigation into North Korea’s ‘Real’ Nuclear Strategy: A Comparison with Pakistan’s Case","authors":"H. Park","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098467","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this article is to ascertain North Korea’s ‘real’ nuclear strategy. This article uses the ‘Strategy = Ends + Ways + Means’ construct for the ascertainment, and it makes comparisons to Pakistan’s nuclear strategy. This article found that North Korea’s goal of its nuclear armament was as ideological and aggressive as Pakistan’s, and that its nuclear strategy is closer to the ‘minimal deterrence strategy’ than Pakistan’s. North Korea seems more desperate than Pakistan because of its dire economic situation and the uncertain future of the Kim family dynasty. It could, therefore, try to achieve its goal, the reunification of South Korea, as soon as it has sufficient capabilities for the strategy. The United States and South Korea should be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is North Korea’s reunification war against South Korea under the threat of nuclear attack on the US mainland and South Korea.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"207 - 230"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45089326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-26DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098502
Hong-Kong T. Nguyen
Chan Young Bang, Transition Beyond Denuclearisation: A Bold Challenge for Kim Jong Un. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, pp. xiii + 169. (ebook). ISBN: 978-981-15-4316-6.
陈永邦:超越无核化的过渡:对金正恩的大胆挑战。中国农业科学，2020,pp. xiii + 169。(电子书)。ISBN: 978-981-15-4316-6。
{"title":"Book review: Chan Young Bang, Transition Beyond Denuclearisation: A Bold Challenge for Kim Jong Un","authors":"Hong-Kong T. Nguyen","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098502","url":null,"abstract":"Chan Young Bang, Transition Beyond Denuclearisation: A Bold Challenge for Kim Jong Un. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, pp. xiii + 169. (ebook). ISBN: 978-981-15-4316-6.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"347 - 349"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48524493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-26DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098491
Raunak Mainali
Wary of their significant dependence on India, Nepal has pursued a policy of hedging in order to mitigate potential harm. The harmful consequences of this dependence were on display in 2015 when a blockade along the southern border with India resulted in massive economic losses for Nepal at a time when the nation was recovering from an earthquake. To insure themselves against a similar fate in the future, Nepal has chosen to hedge by pursuing closer relations with China. This article analyses and outlines how Nepal has deployed this hedging strategy. It argues that Nepal’s relations with China, albeit improved, is not enough as India still retains a monopoly on Nepal’s economy. The increasingly hostile and polarised nature of Sino-Indian relations also means that hedging is not a sustainable policy, and if the rivalry between the regional powers worsen, Nepal may be forced to pick a side.
{"title":"Analysing Nepal’s Foreign Policy: A Hedging Perspective","authors":"Raunak Mainali","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098491","url":null,"abstract":"Wary of their significant dependence on India, Nepal has pursued a policy of hedging in order to mitigate potential harm. The harmful consequences of this dependence were on display in 2015 when a blockade along the southern border with India resulted in massive economic losses for Nepal at a time when the nation was recovering from an earthquake. To insure themselves against a similar fate in the future, Nepal has chosen to hedge by pursuing closer relations with China. This article analyses and outlines how Nepal has deployed this hedging strategy. It argues that Nepal’s relations with China, albeit improved, is not enough as India still retains a monopoly on Nepal’s economy. The increasingly hostile and polarised nature of Sino-Indian relations also means that hedging is not a sustainable policy, and if the rivalry between the regional powers worsen, Nepal may be forced to pick a side.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"301 - 317"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41838728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-26DOI: 10.1177/23477970221098510
A. Parkes
Bob de Graaff ed., Intelligence Communities and Cultures in Asia and the Middle East: A Comprehensive Reference. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2020, 505 pp. (hardback). ISBN: 978-1626378896.
Bob de Graaff主编，《亚洲和中东的情报界和文化：综合参考》。Lynne Rienner出版社，2020，505页（精装本）。ISBN:978-1626378896。
{"title":"Book review: Bob de Graaff ed., Intelligence Communities and Cultures in Asia and the Middle East: A Comprehensive Reference","authors":"A. Parkes","doi":"10.1177/23477970221098510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221098510","url":null,"abstract":"Bob de Graaff ed., Intelligence Communities and Cultures in Asia and the Middle East: A Comprehensive Reference. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2020, 505 pp. (hardback). ISBN: 978-1626378896.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"358 - 361"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41641190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-27DOI: 10.1177/23477970221076763
Aakriti Sethi
Yoichi Funabashi and G John Ikenberry. 2020. The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order. Brookings Institution Press. 415 pp. (Paperback). ISBN: 9780815737674.
{"title":"Book review: Yoichi Funabashi and G John Ikenberry. 2020. The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order","authors":"Aakriti Sethi","doi":"10.1177/23477970221076763","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221076763","url":null,"abstract":"<b>Yoichi Funabashi and G John Ikenberry. 2020. <i>The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order</i>. Brookings Institution Press. 415 pp. (Paperback). ISBN: 9780815737674.</b>","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138536342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Rory Medcalf. 2020. Contest for the Indo-Pacific: Why China Won’t Map the Future","authors":"Uday Patil","doi":"10.1177/23477970221076773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221076773","url":null,"abstract":"Rory Medcalf. 2020. Contest for the Indo-Pacific: Why China Won’t Map the Future. La Trobe University Press. 320 pp. (Paperback). ISBN: 9781760641573.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"171 - 173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48981890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.1177/23477970221076766
Ryan Shaffer
Imtiaz Hussain (ed.). 2019. South Asia in Global Power Rivalry: Inside-out Appraisals from Bangladesh. Palgrave Macmillan. Xiii + 320 pp. (Hardcover). ISBN: 9789811372391.
{"title":"Book review: Imtiaz Hussain (ed.). 2019. South Asia in Global Power Rivalry: Inside-out Appraisals from Bangladesh","authors":"Ryan Shaffer","doi":"10.1177/23477970221076766","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221076766","url":null,"abstract":"Imtiaz Hussain (ed.). 2019. South Asia in Global Power Rivalry: Inside-out Appraisals from Bangladesh. Palgrave Macmillan. Xiii + 320 pp. (Hardcover). ISBN: 9789811372391.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"169 - 171"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46595427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.1177/23477970221076641
L. L. Vidal
Literature has tended to characterise Japanese foreign policy as primarily reactive to US interests, with many analyses focusing on aspects such as the gaiatsu or US pressure on Tokyo. Some analysts go further and depict Japan as a ‘reactive state’ with a foreign policy characterised as passive, risk-avoiding, ineffective and lacking of assertiveness. Accordingly, changes in Japanese diplomacy occur as a response to international stimuli rather than to domestic needs. However, while outside pressure is crucial in accounting for Japan’s foreign policy, approaches based solely on the gaiatsu/‘reactive state thesis’ fail to provide a full explanation of Japan’s behaviour, particularly in the promotion of regional initiatives. This article studies Japan’s post-Cold War Asian regional policy and shows that its Asia-Pacific strategy cannot be explained as merely a reactive policy with a tendency to concede to US pressure. We aim to fill this gap by adopting a neoclassical realist approach that incorporates gaiatsu and their interplay with intervening variables at the individual and domestic levels. We demonstrate that domestic political actors have played a primary role in defining Tokyo’s Asia-Pacific policy choices and argue that Japan has pursued a relatively independent regional strategy vis-à-vis the USA in the post-Cold War period.
{"title":"Beyond the Gaiatsu Model: Japan’s Asia-Pacific Policy and Neoclassical Realism","authors":"L. L. Vidal","doi":"10.1177/23477970221076641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23477970221076641","url":null,"abstract":"Literature has tended to characterise Japanese foreign policy as primarily reactive to US interests, with many analyses focusing on aspects such as the gaiatsu or US pressure on Tokyo. Some analysts go further and depict Japan as a ‘reactive state’ with a foreign policy characterised as passive, risk-avoiding, ineffective and lacking of assertiveness. Accordingly, changes in Japanese diplomacy occur as a response to international stimuli rather than to domestic needs. However, while outside pressure is crucial in accounting for Japan’s foreign policy, approaches based solely on the gaiatsu/‘reactive state thesis’ fail to provide a full explanation of Japan’s behaviour, particularly in the promotion of regional initiatives. This article studies Japan’s post-Cold War Asian regional policy and shows that its Asia-Pacific strategy cannot be explained as merely a reactive policy with a tendency to concede to US pressure. We aim to fill this gap by adopting a neoclassical realist approach that incorporates gaiatsu and their interplay with intervening variables at the individual and domestic levels. We demonstrate that domestic political actors have played a primary role in defining Tokyo’s Asia-Pacific policy choices and argue that Japan has pursued a relatively independent regional strategy vis-à-vis the USA in the post-Cold War period.","PeriodicalId":42502,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"26 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41365783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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