Peace And Stability In Asia Pacific Region

This book aims to provide for a path-breaking cross-regional comparison of the capabilities and readiness of Asia-Pacific countries to contribute to peace support missions, with an eye to identifying emerging trends and policy implications.

This book is based on the proceedings of the National Security Seminar 2011 conducted at the USI from 17 to 18 Nov 2011. The views of eminent speakers from across the globe have been covered on the following themes:- • Strategic and Security Environment in the Asia Pacific Region • Existing Political and Economic Frameworks in the Asia Pacific: Have they fulfilled regional aspirations? • Bringing an Enduring Security Architecture for the Asia Pacific This book intends to examine the current state and possible future trajectory of efforts to create an Asia Pacific security architecture. The problems are challenging but not insurmountable. Efforts to build an appropriate security architecture would certainly be in the interest of the region.

This book explores theories of conflict and peacebuilding and applies them to case studies from the Asia Pacific region, seeking to shift attention to the inherency of conflict, the constant danger of re-emergence, and the need to establish mechanisms to resolve it. The authors argue that the central focus of peacebuilding should not be state-building per se, but rather the creation of effective mechanisms for peaceful resolution of both past and newly emerging conflicts. To do so, it is important to consider the entire process of creating peace, to contemplate the linkages between conflict, resolution, and post-conflict peacebuilding, rather than focus only on the period of institution-building.

Preventive diplomacy constitutes an important part of international conflict resolution mechanisms. This book presents the latest research trends in ideations, institutions and practices in preventive diplomacy and other peacebuilding measures of Asia-Pacific countries to ensure traditional and non-traditional security within and beyond the region. It studies peacebuilding issues range from North Korea nuclear issue in Northeast Asia, disputes in the South China Sea, Afghanistan peace process and China-India-Pakistan interaction in South Asia, UN peacebuilding in Central Asia, etc. It explores general security issues at the state, international, regional and global levels by experts from the Asia-Pacific. This book is a useful guide for those interested to know the security and preventive diplomacy status in the region's distinctive context.

Investigating the dynamics of balancing patterns in the Asia-Pacific, this book focuses particularly on the contribution of great powers and middle powers to regional stability. Taking the US and China as great powers, and using ASEAN, Russia, Australia and South Korea as example of middle powers, the author addresses the following questions: Do middle powers influence balancing patterns in the Asia-Pacific? Are the United States and China balancing each other in the Asia-Pacific, and if so, by which means? What is the contribution of the English school to understanding balance of power dynamics? The Balance of Power in Asia-Pacific Security makes a persuasive contribution to the debate on the US-China relationship. Interviews with policy practitioners and academics in the region offer a systematic analysis of the complexities of Asia-Pacific security. Providing conceptual insights, this book gives a fresh understanding of the mechanisms necessary to maintain regional stability and explains the implications of US-China power balancing for global security. It will be an important resource for scholars and students of Asia-Pacific politics and security.

Demonstrating that none of the various perspectives under review has emerged as the clear winner in the struggle for theoretical hegemony in security studies, this book shows that eclectic perspectives, like democratic realist institutionalism, can better explain peace and security in the Asian Pacific. The Asian Pacific has emerged as one of the most important regions in the world, causing scholars to pay increased attention to the various challenges, old and new, to peace and security there. Peace and Security in the Asia-Pacific: Theory and Practice is a comprehensive, critical review of the established theoretical perspectives relevant to contemporary peace and security studies in the light of recent experiences. Illuminating ongoing debates in the field, the book covers some 20 theoretical perspectives on peace and security in the Asian Pacific, including realist, liberal, socialist, peace and human security, constructivist, feminist, and nontraditional security studies. The first section of the book discusses perspectives in realist security studies, the second part covers perspectives critical of realism. The author's goal is to assess whether any of the perspectives found in nonrealist security studies are capable of undermining realism. His conclusion is that each theoretical perspective has its strengths and weaknesses, leaving eclecticism as the best way to understand the region's dynamics.