Energy Security Cooperation In Northeast Asia

Drawing on cutting-edge research from leading scholars, this book investigates state preferences for regime creation and assesses state capacity for executing these preferences in Northeast Asia’s energy domain, defined as the geographical area comprising the following countries: Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea. It examines questions pertaining to how states perceive the need and necessity for establishing a regime when it comes to the issue of energy and how much commitment they make to the effort in Northeast Asia. The book analyses the factors that shape each country’s fundamental energy interests in the region, how these interests impact their attitudes toward engaging the region on energy security and the way they carry out their regional engagement. Based on countries’ interests in promoting institutionalized regional energy cooperation and their capacity for forging that cooperation, the collection assesses each state’s role in contributing to an energy regime in Northeast Asia. It then concludes with a critique on the decade-plus quest for energy security cooperation in Northeast Asia and suggests ways forward for facilitating regional energy security cooperation. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of environmental policy, energy policy, security studies, Asian studies and international relations.

A new look at the different perspectives on energy security policies of European and Asian countries. The book explains the reasons for the failure of EU common energy policies and the deficiencies in the policies towards Central Asia. It examines Chinese energy diplomacy, and the possibility of energy competition and cooperation in Northeast Asia.

Energy cooperation in northeast Asia is proceeding slowly. It is necessary to promote energy cooperation in northeast Asia further to ensure energy security of all countries in the region. In recent years, many changes have taken place in the world energy landscape, bringing new opportunities for energy cooperation in northeast Asia. Firstly, increased oil and gas production in North America has increased Russia's willingness to deepen energy cooperation with northeast Asian countries. Secondly, the low oil price in the world brings opportunities for the construction and cooperation of energy reserves in northeast Asia. Thirdly, the diversification of energy import in northeast Asia is conducive to the construction and cooperation of energy and financial markets in northeast Asia. Fourth, shale oil and gas investment cooperation will be the new content of energy cooperation in northeast Asia. In addition, China's "One Belt And One Road" initiative will also boost the energy cooperation in northeast Asian. Northeast Asian countries should rethink how to promote the energy cooperation in northeast Asian further.

Many states appear to have strong sentiment on energy security and energy transit vulnerability. Some analysts see the rapidly increasing demand for energy and competition for energy resources leading to nationalistic energy policies. Others argue that global trends with efficient energy markets and growing options on renewables suggest more relaxed energy outlooks. This book focuses on Asia, where global demand for energy is now concentrated in the aspiring and rising powers of the region: China, India, Japan and South Korea, and also recognises the importance of Russia as a growing energy supplier. Contributions by experts in the field provide detailed and parallel case studies. Shedding light on the ongoing debate in the literature regarding energy outlooks of major Asian states, they analyse whether energy policies are expected to evolve along market oriented cooperative lines or more competitive and even destructive mercantile, nationalist lines. The book argues that states are not unitary actors even in the key energy security arena and there are competing and contrasting viewpoints in Asian states on energy security. It suggests that domestic debates structure thinking on energy security, making energy policy more contingent than assumed by purely market or geopolitical logics. Providing a strong contribution to comparative energy security studies, the book fills an important gap in the literature on energy and national security and offers a basis for conducting further inter-state, interactive analysis. It will be of interest to researchers on Asian Studies, energy politics and international relations.

"Interest in more comprehensive institutional arrangements for Northeast Asia have been given a fillip by the suggestions emerging from the Six Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The following paper looks at regional interactions on energy and related policies. It asks whether the regional actors see conflicts emerging within the region in their individual attempts to solve their energy security concerns, or whether they envisage cooperative ways for resolving such problems. In the light of this, it asks whether there could be a functionalist basis arising from energy cooperation for a wider process of community-building in Northeast Asia. It concludes that within the region, multilateral institutional mechanisms face major political, economic and technical problems. On most energy issues, the regional economies are likely to continue to look mainly to links with institutions outside the region. There are areas in which regional cooperation would be beneficial, yet the opportunities available from such cooperation will face major obstacles in the absence of institutionalised cooperation processes in the broader economic and security fields."--Page iv

"Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world, experiencing record economic growth and contributing significantly to global economic development. However, this economic growth also translates into greater energy demand and increases the need to secure stable supplies of energy resources There are growing concerns on whether the quest for energy security by Asian states would lead to political, economic and social instability in Asia, with wider international repercussions. This publication is an attempt to examine the impact of Asia's growing energy demand and the resulting security implications"--Preface.