Contemporary Inter Regional Dialogue And Cooperation Between The Eu And Asean On Non Traditional Security Challenges

This book provides an analysis of non-traditional security (NTS) crises and cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Southeast Asia. Using case studies – transboundary air pollution, marine life endangerment, illegal migration, and terrorism – from both Southeast Asia and Western Europe between 2009 and 2016, this book offers a contemporary understanding of the EU as a collective actor within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-EU and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) inter-regional dialogue formats and affiliated programmes. Through new empirical insights into the regional and inter-regional institutional dynamics of the EU and ASEAN in times of crisis and rising nationalism in both regions the author demonstrates, in particular, the relevance of the EU as a security and normative actor and the value of inter-regionalism as a foreign and security tool of the EU in Southeast Asia. Thus, this book underlines the importance of regional organisations in the management of contemporary transboundary NTS challenges within global governance. Enhancing topical debates and offering a timely assessment of crisis-induced regionalism and inter-regionalism in world affairs, this book will be of interest to scholars studying International Relations, International Security, Southeast Asian Studies, European Studies, and Public Policy.

Amidst the Eurozone crisis, the European Union (EU) is stepping up its dialogue and engagement with and within Southeast Asia. The EU’s contemporary approach towards Asia emphasises the importance of open economies and common challenges of the 21st Century. So-called non-traditional security issues have been portrayed increasingly as an avenue to share experiences and enhance cooperation between the EU and Southeast Asia. This contemporary conceptual re-orientation demands a closer look at the EU as an actor in Southeast Asia. This book is the first contemporary monograph-length discussion of the EU as a politico-security actor in in the region post-Cold War. Drawing upon the historical and institutional context and a broad range of empirical case studies, it considers the non-traditional security crises of the late 1990s and early 2000s in Southeast Asia as triggers for enhanced regional and inter-regional cooperation. In doing so, the book construes new insights into our understanding of the EU as a global actor and its normative influence in regions far away from Europe. Providing a crisis-centric and sector-specific analysis which is much-needed, the book will be of interest to scholars of Southeast Asian Politics and European Politics, as well as policy-makers.

This edited volume examines contemporary relations between Europe and Asia through the prism of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEM is an informal forum for dialogue and cooperation between 53 partners from both regions. Having started in 1996, ASEM aims to enhance political dialogue, strengthen economic cooperation, and promote socio-cultural exchange. The book provides insights into past achievements, current challenges, and possible new directions for ASEM as a dialogue forum. The chapters focus on institutional design, the security agenda, economic cooperation, and cultural exchange and civil society outreach through the Asia-Europe Foundation. They also zoom in on ASEM’s Parliamentary Partnership, and the ongoing challenge of public awareness and visibility. Furthermore, they critically examine the implications of the widening process, the attempts to reinvigorate the forum, and the varied perspectives on ASEM’s value for both regions. Appealing to policy-makers, researchers, and students, this volume provides an in-depth analysis of a wide range of issues relating to the role of ASEM in contemporary international relations.

This book comparatively analyses the role of the EU in influencing the policies of other regional organisations by assessing its role in leading the institutionalisation of ASEAN disaster management institutions. By exploring the role of actors as drivers of the process that led to the institutionalisation of the ASEAN disaster response mechanism, it unpacks the process and assesses the role of the EU in directly or indirectly leading this process, whilst including the role played by other relevant actors, namely Australia, New Zealand, Japan, USA and the UN. In doing so, the book proposes an original framework going beyond the idea of the EU as a sui generis actor and adds a comparative dimension to the analysis of the EU's influence on regional processes. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of EU External Relations, Security Studies, Regional Studies, disaster management, ASEAN-EU relations, EU actorness, and more broadly to and Asia Studies, international relations and inter-regionalism. Chapter 1 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book examines the interactions between trade policy and foreign and security policy in EU external action as a nexus of practices. Drawing on the rich empirical material of over 50 in-depth interviews with EU officials, members of the European Parliament and member state diplomats, the book reconstructs and analyses the distinctive institutional cultures of the Directorate-General for Trade and the European External Action Service, their policy practices and the effect on EU external action. It appeals to scholars of political science and international relations.

This book fosters critical reflection on Europe's place in a fast-changing global environment, covering the soft and hard facets of EU power along the spectrum of low politics–high politics. Taking an innovative case-study approach, it provides a wide understanding of European Studies and International Relations beyond classical power considerations and addresses the crossroads of the two disciplines. Fundamentally, it addresses the specificity of the EU as an actor in International Relations and shows that the EU holds power and influence – creating opportunities for peace-making and peace-building – in a way classical IR theory would suggest it should not. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Studies, foreign policy analysis, International Relations, Security Studies, Political Science, History, and Economics.

This book introduces readers to the deep political tensions in the Asia-Pacific and offers classroom simulations designed to encourage students to delve deeper into the issues and dynamics of the region.

Using the high-profile 2017 blasphemy trial of the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama, as its sole case study, this book assesses whether Indonesia’s liberal democratic human rights legal regime can withstand the rise of growing Islamist majoritarian sentiment. Specifically, this book analyses whether a 2010 decision of Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has rendered the liberal democratic human rights guarantees contained in Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution ineffective. Key legal documents, including the indictment issued by the North Jakarta Attorney-General and General Prosecutor, the defence’s ‘Notice of Defence’, and the North Jakarta State Court’s convicting judgment, are examined. The book shows how Islamist majoritarians in Indonesia have hijacked human rights discourse by attributing new, inaccurate meanings to key liberal democratic concepts. This has provided them with a human rights law-based justification for the prioritisation of the religious sensibilities and religious orthodoxy of Indonesia’s Muslim majority over the fundamental rights of the country’s religious minorities. While Ahok’s conviction evidences this, the book cautions that matters pertaining to public religion will remain a site of contestation in contemporary Indonesia for the foreseeable future. A groundbreaking study of the Ahok trial, the blasphemy law, and the contentious politics of religious freedom and cultural citizenship in Indonesia, this book will be of interest to academics working in the fields of religion, Islamic studies, religious studies, law and society, law and development, law reform, constitutionalism, politics, history and social change, and Southeast Asian studies.