Pub Date : 2022-07-26DOI: 10.1177/20578911221114509
Yuri Uchiyama
This article shows what were/are the features of Japanese prime ministers as party leaders, as well as how and why these features have changed over the last 20 years. It focuses on three dimensions: party centralisation, internal cohesion and leadership security. On party centralisation, the electoral reform of 1994 introduced a single-member district system into the House of Representatives, or Lower House. This reform ended intra-party competition within the LDP that had existed under the multi-member system and since then the party has become much more centralised. On internal cohesion, the electoral reform has provided the prime minister with a powerful instrument to control the party: the power of endorsement. On leadership security, prime ministers like Koizumi Junichirō and Abe Shinzō were successful in restraining rebels and securing their leadership by effectively using the power of endorsement along with the power of appointment. However, a considerable number of prime ministers in the 21st century have had short tenures of about one year. While the personalisation of politics has made the position of popular prime ministers more secure, it has made unpopular prime ministers highly vulnerable.
{"title":"Japanese prime ministers and party leadership","authors":"Yuri Uchiyama","doi":"10.1177/20578911221114509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221114509","url":null,"abstract":"This article shows what were/are the features of Japanese prime ministers as party leaders, as well as how and why these features have changed over the last 20 years. It focuses on three dimensions: party centralisation, internal cohesion and leadership security. On party centralisation, the electoral reform of 1994 introduced a single-member district system into the House of Representatives, or Lower House. This reform ended intra-party competition within the LDP that had existed under the multi-member system and since then the party has become much more centralised. On internal cohesion, the electoral reform has provided the prime minister with a powerful instrument to control the party: the power of endorsement. On leadership security, prime ministers like Koizumi Junichirō and Abe Shinzō were successful in restraining rebels and securing their leadership by effectively using the power of endorsement along with the power of appointment. However, a considerable number of prime ministers in the 21st century have had short tenures of about one year. While the personalisation of politics has made the position of popular prime ministers more secure, it has made unpopular prime ministers highly vulnerable.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"83 - 94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41363480","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 : 2022-07-25DOI: 10.1177/20578911221106351
Mark Bennister
Alongside the focus on prime ministers within an institutional setting, it is important to recognise the significance of individual skills, styles and personality. Differing individuals will have differing performative skill levels and different leadership styles. The premise that leadership analysis should focus on the interaction between the political skills of the leader and the institutional environment in which they are operating is one that has gained some traction in contemporary political leadership scholarship. This article concentrates on the impact of the individual on the office, considering first the agent-centred approaches to prime ministerial study and applying the interactive model of leadership capital to the contemporary UK premiership, drawing some comparisons with Japan. Focusing on the three components of leadership capital – skills, relations and reputation of the individual in office – can give us a broader picture of the trajectory of prime ministerial leadership. Individual action, perceptions of the incumbent, decision making and style can all impact on the prime minister in office in the 21st century.
{"title":"The contemporary UK prime minister. When the personal becomes political: Agency, character, personality and celebrity","authors":"Mark Bennister","doi":"10.1177/20578911221106351","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221106351","url":null,"abstract":"Alongside the focus on prime ministers within an institutional setting, it is important to recognise the significance of individual skills, styles and personality. Differing individuals will have differing performative skill levels and different leadership styles. The premise that leadership analysis should focus on the interaction between the political skills of the leader and the institutional environment in which they are operating is one that has gained some traction in contemporary political leadership scholarship. This article concentrates on the impact of the individual on the office, considering first the agent-centred approaches to prime ministerial study and applying the interactive model of leadership capital to the contemporary UK premiership, drawing some comparisons with Japan. Focusing on the three components of leadership capital – skills, relations and reputation of the individual in office – can give us a broader picture of the trajectory of prime ministerial leadership. Individual action, perceptions of the incumbent, decision making and style can all impact on the prime minister in office in the 21st century.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"35 - 51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49367221","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 : 2022-07-11DOI: 10.1177/20578911221108800
M. Nuruzzaman
This article probes the viability and survival of BRICS in the context of intensified China–India conflicts and strategic divergences. It argues that occasional eruptions of serious tensions in China–India relations, underpinned by their 1962 border war, threaten to make BRICS an ineffective or weak organization. The article shows that the threats to BRICS’s effectiveness as a new economic grouping originate from both countries’ strategies and counter-strategies to outperform and outbid each other in a number of critical geopolitical areas, most importantly South Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. The absence of liberal institutional geoeconomic strategies in their bilateral relations to generate meaningful cooperation for mutual gains further exacerbates their conflicts, with clear implications for BRICS. The article discusses three policy implications for BRICS to function as an effective new economic grouping of the Global South—institutional reforms, a shift from geopolitical to liberal institutional geoeconomic strategy of cooperation, and a coordinated policy approach to global political and economic issues.
{"title":"Conflicts, strategic divergences and the survival of economic groupings: Will China–India rivalry make BRICS obsolete?","authors":"M. Nuruzzaman","doi":"10.1177/20578911221108800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221108800","url":null,"abstract":"This article probes the viability and survival of BRICS in the context of intensified China–India conflicts and strategic divergences. It argues that occasional eruptions of serious tensions in China–India relations, underpinned by their 1962 border war, threaten to make BRICS an ineffective or weak organization. The article shows that the threats to BRICS’s effectiveness as a new economic grouping originate from both countries’ strategies and counter-strategies to outperform and outbid each other in a number of critical geopolitical areas, most importantly South Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. The absence of liberal institutional geoeconomic strategies in their bilateral relations to generate meaningful cooperation for mutual gains further exacerbates their conflicts, with clear implications for BRICS. The article discusses three policy implications for BRICS to function as an effective new economic grouping of the Global South—institutional reforms, a shift from geopolitical to liberal institutional geoeconomic strategy of cooperation, and a coordinated policy approach to global political and economic issues.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"7 1","pages":"1025 - 1044"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49640001","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 : 2022-07-11DOI: 10.1177/20578911221109852
Hanspreet Kaur
This article discusses how the Right to Information Act in India, Nigeria and Indonesia can have an influence on ensuring transparency and accountability in the government system. The acts pertaining to the right to information in these three countries were implemented after long proceedings and deep struggles. The article looks at the legislation on the right to information in these three countries, the factors that motivated each of them to adopt the legislation, the implementation of the Right to Information Act, the challenges faced during the passage of the Act, the scope of coverage of the provisions of the Acts of all three countries, exceptions to the information disclosed to the public and problems faced during implementation from the government's side and the user's side. The article concludes with a summary of the arguments and key policy recommendations.
{"title":"Transparency in governance: A comparative study of right-to-information legislation in India, Indonesia and Nigeria","authors":"Hanspreet Kaur","doi":"10.1177/20578911221109852","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221109852","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses how the Right to Information Act in India, Nigeria and Indonesia can have an influence on ensuring transparency and accountability in the government system. The acts pertaining to the right to information in these three countries were implemented after long proceedings and deep struggles. The article looks at the legislation on the right to information in these three countries, the factors that motivated each of them to adopt the legislation, the implementation of the Right to Information Act, the challenges faced during the passage of the Act, the scope of coverage of the provisions of the Acts of all three countries, exceptions to the information disclosed to the public and problems faced during implementation from the government's side and the user's side. The article concludes with a summary of the arguments and key policy recommendations.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"7 1","pages":"1282 - 1296"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44537108","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 : 2022-06-26DOI: 10.1177/20578911221106811
T. Heppell
This article considers UK prime ministers as leaders of their political parties. It evaluates the extent to which the three trends identified by Uchiyama in this issue, in relation to Japanese prime ministers, are replicated in the case of UK prime ministers. First, to what extent is the Japanese trend towards increasing party centralisation replicated within the UK Labour and Conservative parties? Second, to what extent is the Japanese trend of reduced factional influence and lower rebellion rates replicated in the case of the UK Labour and Conservative parties? Finally, is the association between leadership personalisation and party leadership security – i.e. how an approval rating of below 30 per cent will act as a trigger for the removal of an incumbent Japanese prime minister – replicated in the case of the UK Labour and Conservative parties?
{"title":"Party centralisation, internal cohesion and leadership security: How UK prime ministers compare to Japanese prime ministers","authors":"T. Heppell","doi":"10.1177/20578911221106811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221106811","url":null,"abstract":"This article considers UK prime ministers as leaders of their political parties. It evaluates the extent to which the three trends identified by Uchiyama in this issue, in relation to Japanese prime ministers, are replicated in the case of UK prime ministers. First, to what extent is the Japanese trend towards increasing party centralisation replicated within the UK Labour and Conservative parties? Second, to what extent is the Japanese trend of reduced factional influence and lower rebellion rates replicated in the case of the UK Labour and Conservative parties? Finally, is the association between leadership personalisation and party leadership security – i.e. how an approval rating of below 30 per cent will act as a trigger for the removal of an incumbent Japanese prime minister – replicated in the case of the UK Labour and Conservative parties?","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"52 - 67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45332297","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 : 2022-06-26DOI: 10.1177/20578911221107189
T. Shinoda
This article explores the institutional arrangements surrounding the Japanese prime minister and offers an analysis of the core executive style in accordance with the classifications introduced by Dunleavy and Rhodes. The constitutional arrangement was set out to establish a ‘prime ministerial government’ in Japan. However, Japanese bureaucrats, who feared strong individual authority, instead sought to create a ‘cabinet government’ which exercises strong authority as a collective body. In addition, two developments weakened the prime minister’s power over the cabinet, namely the ceremonial role of cabinet meetings and strong factionalism within the ruling party, which led to a ‘bureaucratic coordination model’. Since the 1990s, institutional reforms have shifted the Japanese core executive towards a ‘prime ministerial government’.
{"title":"The Japanese prime minister and the executive institutional setting","authors":"T. Shinoda","doi":"10.1177/20578911221107189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221107189","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the institutional arrangements surrounding the Japanese prime minister and offers an analysis of the core executive style in accordance with the classifications introduced by Dunleavy and Rhodes. The constitutional arrangement was set out to establish a ‘prime ministerial government’ in Japan. However, Japanese bureaucrats, who feared strong individual authority, instead sought to create a ‘cabinet government’ which exercises strong authority as a collective body. In addition, two developments weakened the prime minister’s power over the cabinet, namely the ceremonial role of cabinet meetings and strong factionalism within the ruling party, which led to a ‘bureaucratic coordination model’. Since the 1990s, institutional reforms have shifted the Japanese core executive towards a ‘prime ministerial government’.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"68 - 82"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43278721","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 : 2022-06-23DOI: 10.1177/20578911221104286
Chiho Maruoka, Caroline Rose
Japanese prime ministers have traditionally been seen as consensus-builders, lacking flair, charisma and the skills to be anything other than reactive leaders, constrained by a political system which privileged a strong bureaucracy and Liberal Democratic Party structures. Recent literature has, however, begun to explore prime ministerial agency, considering the ways in which Japanese prime ministers have been able to demonstrate stronger leadership not only because of an expansion of their power resources in the core executive and the party, but also because of their individual leadership skills, style and personal attributes. Drawing on studies which have highlighted the impact of Japanese prime ministerial agency, this article uses the Leadership Capital Index (LCI) alongside insights from crisis management literature to explore the latter months of Abe Shinzō's premiership. It considers the ways in which personal factors interacted with institutional and situational factors in shaping Abe's political authority during the final year of his prime ministership, with a particular focus on the pandemic period. It asks why, when Abe had otherwise been considered one of post-war Japan's strongest and most decisive leaders, did he fall short during the Covid-19 crisis? To what extent did his personal skills and leadership style help or hinder his ability to lead during the crisis? The article suggests that the LCI offers insights into ways in which, and why, Abe's apparently strong leadership skills went missing in action during the global pandemic.
{"title":"How the mighty are fallen: Evaluating Abe Shinzō's leadership capital in crisis","authors":"Chiho Maruoka, Caroline Rose","doi":"10.1177/20578911221104286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221104286","url":null,"abstract":"Japanese prime ministers have traditionally been seen as consensus-builders, lacking flair, charisma and the skills to be anything other than reactive leaders, constrained by a political system which privileged a strong bureaucracy and Liberal Democratic Party structures. Recent literature has, however, begun to explore prime ministerial agency, considering the ways in which Japanese prime ministers have been able to demonstrate stronger leadership not only because of an expansion of their power resources in the core executive and the party, but also because of their individual leadership skills, style and personal attributes. Drawing on studies which have highlighted the impact of Japanese prime ministerial agency, this article uses the Leadership Capital Index (LCI) alongside insights from crisis management literature to explore the latter months of Abe Shinzō's premiership. It considers the ways in which personal factors interacted with institutional and situational factors in shaping Abe's political authority during the final year of his prime ministership, with a particular focus on the pandemic period. It asks why, when Abe had otherwise been considered one of post-war Japan's strongest and most decisive leaders, did he fall short during the Covid-19 crisis? To what extent did his personal skills and leadership style help or hinder his ability to lead during the crisis? The article suggests that the LCI offers insights into ways in which, and why, Abe's apparently strong leadership skills went missing in action during the global pandemic.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"18 - 34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48186991","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 : 2022-06-22DOI: 10.1177/20578911221105726
M. Afzaal, S. Naqvi, Gulrukh Raees
The study investigates how Pakistani media discourses represented the populist political rhetoric of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) between 2016 and 2018. Applying the theoretical lens of corpus-based critical discourse analysis to a specially constructed corpus, the study examines how PTI's populist political rhetoric was co-opted by the media to garner public support for it prior to the 2018 elections and then to criticize its performance following electoral victory. The selected corpus comprised news, articles, and headlines published in English newspapers between 2016 and 2018. Based on the analysis, the study identifies linguistic devices and strategies in the media discourses covering PTI's run-up to the elections and ascent to power. It also sheds light on the types of populism exercised by the media in depicting political messages to move from promotion of PTI's vision and rhetoric to critique of its perceived post-election failure to fulfil its promises. Concordance lines and collocation analysis furnish evidence of a shift in the media discourses from pre-election optimism and ideological valorization of the PTI agenda to failure and loss of hope in the PTI government following its assumption of leadership.
{"title":"Representations of Naya Pakistan: A corpus-based study of Pakistani media discourses","authors":"M. Afzaal, S. Naqvi, Gulrukh Raees","doi":"10.1177/20578911221105726","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221105726","url":null,"abstract":"The study investigates how Pakistani media discourses represented the populist political rhetoric of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) between 2016 and 2018. Applying the theoretical lens of corpus-based critical discourse analysis to a specially constructed corpus, the study examines how PTI's populist political rhetoric was co-opted by the media to garner public support for it prior to the 2018 elections and then to criticize its performance following electoral victory. The selected corpus comprised news, articles, and headlines published in English newspapers between 2016 and 2018. Based on the analysis, the study identifies linguistic devices and strategies in the media discourses covering PTI's run-up to the elections and ascent to power. It also sheds light on the types of populism exercised by the media in depicting political messages to move from promotion of PTI's vision and rhetoric to critique of its perceived post-election failure to fulfil its promises. Concordance lines and collocation analysis furnish evidence of a shift in the media discourses from pre-election optimism and ideological valorization of the PTI agenda to failure and loss of hope in the PTI government following its assumption of leadership.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"7 1","pages":"521 - 538"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44755508","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 : 2022-06-20DOI: 10.1177/20578911221104275
Z. Ahmed, M. Hussain
There is little research done on the social agenda of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). As an analysis of the organization's social agenda is relevant to the challenges and opportunities offered by COVID-19, this article aims to draw lessons for SAARC from the development model of the European Union (EU). Erstwhile literature on SAARC has not compared its progress in terms of social development with that of the EU. Hence, this study aims to answer the following questions: What are the key differences between the social development approaches of the two organizations, and what can SAARC learn from the EU's social model? The analysis in this research is largely based on an extensive review of official documents from the EU and SAARC. This article argues that collective social development is in line with SAARC's functionalist approach that prioritizes cooperation in non-controversial areas like human security. Based on the comparative analysis, this article proposes a three-tier social development approach for comprehensive social development across South Asia. This study argues that, despite its socio-economic and political challenges, SAARC has a lot to gain from adopting the EU’s social model.
{"title":"South Asian regionalism, social development and COVID-19: Lessons for SAARC from the EU's social model","authors":"Z. Ahmed, M. Hussain","doi":"10.1177/20578911221104275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221104275","url":null,"abstract":"There is little research done on the social agenda of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). As an analysis of the organization's social agenda is relevant to the challenges and opportunities offered by COVID-19, this article aims to draw lessons for SAARC from the development model of the European Union (EU). Erstwhile literature on SAARC has not compared its progress in terms of social development with that of the EU. Hence, this study aims to answer the following questions: What are the key differences between the social development approaches of the two organizations, and what can SAARC learn from the EU's social model? The analysis in this research is largely based on an extensive review of official documents from the EU and SAARC. This article argues that collective social development is in line with SAARC's functionalist approach that prioritizes cooperation in non-controversial areas like human security. Based on the comparative analysis, this article proposes a three-tier social development approach for comprehensive social development across South Asia. This study argues that, despite its socio-economic and political challenges, SAARC has a lot to gain from adopting the EU’s social model.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"7 1","pages":"820 - 835"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41543490","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 : 2022-06-16DOI: 10.1177/20578911221103358
Syed Muhammad Saad Zaidi, Nirmal
With the dawn of the 21st century, a global political paradigmatic shift was witnessed; no longer was Europe considered to be the focal point of geopolitics. Now, all eyes were on the Asian continent; with the brewing Afghan conflict, the arguably rising global hegemony contender China, the convoluted Iranian crisis, rapidly rising economic powers in South-East Asia, the key strategic power of the Indian Ocean and India and, amidst all, the dramatically increasing footprint of the United States. Consequently, as states with opposing interests were ferociously competing for regional dominance, a great degree of political polarization was induced in the regional geopolitical structure, which in turn forced political realignments. Old foes became friends (India and the United States), whereas decades old alliances broke (Pakistan and the United States). This dramatic regional political paradigm shift has forced Pakistan to completely transform its foreign policy, from a pro-western to an eastern/regional approach. This article explores how the changing regional geopolitical dynamics is affecting Pakistan’s foreign policy. It does so by critically analysing the geopolitical realignments in the region and the myriad regional conflicts/crises, while predominantly highlighting their implications for Pakistan. A mix-approach based on descriptive and critical analytical qualitative research methods has been adopted to conduct this study.
{"title":"Regional political paradigm shift: Challenges and opportunities for Pakistan","authors":"Syed Muhammad Saad Zaidi, Nirmal","doi":"10.1177/20578911221103358","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221103358","url":null,"abstract":"With the dawn of the 21st century, a global political paradigmatic shift was witnessed; no longer was Europe considered to be the focal point of geopolitics. Now, all eyes were on the Asian continent; with the brewing Afghan conflict, the arguably rising global hegemony contender China, the convoluted Iranian crisis, rapidly rising economic powers in South-East Asia, the key strategic power of the Indian Ocean and India and, amidst all, the dramatically increasing footprint of the United States. Consequently, as states with opposing interests were ferociously competing for regional dominance, a great degree of political polarization was induced in the regional geopolitical structure, which in turn forced political realignments. Old foes became friends (India and the United States), whereas decades old alliances broke (Pakistan and the United States). This dramatic regional political paradigm shift has forced Pakistan to completely transform its foreign policy, from a pro-western to an eastern/regional approach. This article explores how the changing regional geopolitical dynamics is affecting Pakistan’s foreign policy. It does so by critically analysing the geopolitical realignments in the region and the myriad regional conflicts/crises, while predominantly highlighting their implications for Pakistan. A mix-approach based on descriptive and critical analytical qualitative research methods has been adopted to conduct this study.","PeriodicalId":43694,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics","volume":"7 1","pages":"772 - 789"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41949766","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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