The Protection And Promotion Of Human Security In East Asia

Although many of the states of East Asia have achieved startling success, not all have benefited from the region's development. Many of the most vulnerable sections of East Asian populations still face tremendous challenges in their daily lives, have yet to enjoy the rewards of the Asian Century, and may even be further imperiled as a result of the forces of development. Brendan Howe examines the measurements of success in East Asian development and governance from a human-centered perspective. He assesses obstacles to the protection and promotion of human security and development through detailed case studies of the most challenged states in the region, including Burma, Timor-Leste, Japan and North and South Korea. He looks at the roles that East Asian actors can play, and have been playing, in protecting and promoting human security at the theoretical and practical level.

Human security is becoming increasingly pronounced in recent years due to changes in the security landscape of world politics. Yet, inter-state relations have continued to dominate security concerns in East Asia. This has, unfortunately, eluded the broader understanding of issues and challenges facing the peoples of East Asia. Home to nations with rapid economic growth and development, East Asia is at the core of what some individuals have termed as the coming Asian Century. Years of economic liberalization and exposure to globalization have permitted the region to achieve high levels of interconnectedness from within and without in unprecedented ways. This has certainly reduced state control and opened up spaces for cross-border human activities. While economic wealth have increased substantially over the years, it has also brought about bigger income disparities, unsustainable safety nets and a surge in social problems from health issues to migratory concerns that threaten the safety and well-being of individuals. Human Security: Securing East Asia’s Future timely examines the fundamental issues causing human insecurities and evaluates the extent of which human security plays a role at the state and regional levels. Covering the different areas of threats to humans and applying case study materials, this volume provides an intellectual mix of perspectives that captures the relationship between people, state and region. This book will be of interest to those studying traditional and non-traditional security/threats, Asian human development and critical policy analysis.

This book reveals how the idea of human security, combined with other human-centric norms, has been embraced, criticized, modified and diffused in East Asia (ASEAN Plus Three). Once we zoom in to the regional space of East Asia, we can see a kaleidoscopic diversity of human security stakeholders and their values. Asian stakeholders are willing to engage in the cultural interpretation and contextualization of human security, underlining the importance of human dignity in addition to freedom from fear and from want. This dignity element, together with national ownership, may be the most important values added in the Asian version of human security.

There is a growing interest in human security in Southeast Asia. This book firstly explores the theoretical and conceptual basis of human security, before focusing on the region itself. It shows how human security has been taken up as a central part of security policy in individual states in Southeast Asia, as well as in the regional security policy within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The book discusses domestic challenges for human security including the insurgencies in southern Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Transnational security issues such as terrorism, drugs, human trafficking and the situation in Burma are explored by the author, and the ‘ASEAN’ way of contrasting the values and approaches of Southeast Asian countries with those in the West is assessed. By focusing on the ongoing changes and efforts to achieve human security in Southeast Asia, this book contributes to theoretical debates on human security as well as regional studies on Southeast Asia.

Since the end of the Cold War the number of interstate wars has remained relatively low, although whilst states may be more secure than ever this does not mean that individual human beings are too. This has led to a growing recognition of the importance of human security, in contrast to the traditional realist focus on state security. This book explores human security in East Asia, focusing in particular on the challenges to collaboration among actors involved in the process of human security promotion. It examines the theoretical complexities of conceptual arguments about human security, drawing on the ideas of scholars from Asia and the West, to provide a global perspective on what causes human insecurity and how security can best be achieved. It considers in detail case studies of military interventions in East Asia, in particular East Timor, and assesses how successful collaborative efforts have been in providing human security. It also explores case studies of non-military intervention, including international criminal justice in Cambodia and East Timor. It discusses the relationship of regional great powers such as China and Japan to human security promotion, arguing that it will be better served if these powers engage less in the traditional game of geopolitics and if human security objectives do not work against actors' interests. It shows how interventions to uphold human security have not always succeeded to the extent that was hoped, despite the best of intentions, and considers how improved collaboration can be achieved, so that future interventions enjoy more consistent success.

New Approaches to Human Security in the Asia-Pacific offers a distinctly Asia-Pacific-oriented perspective to one of the most discussed components of international security policy, human security. This volume of regional experts assess countries that have either spearheaded this form of security politics (Japan and Australia) or have recently advanced to become a key player on various aspects of human security in both a domestic and global context (China). The authors provide an interesting investigation into the continued relevance and promise of the human security paradigm against more 'traditional' security approaches. Accordingly the book will appeal to readers across a wide band of the social sciences (international relations, security studies, development studies and public policy) and to practitioners and analysts working in applied settings.

Human security is becoming increasingly pronounced in recent years due to changes in the security landscape of world politics. Yet, inter-state relations have continued to dominate security concerns in East Asia. This has, unfortunately, eluded the broader understanding of issues and challenges facing the peoples of East Asia. Home to nations with rapid economic growth and development, East Asia is at the core of what some individuals have termed as the coming Asian Century. Years of economic liberalization and exposure to globalization have permitted the region to achieve high levels of interconnectedness from within and without in unprecedented ways. This has certainly reduced state control and opened up spaces for cross-border human activities. While economic wealth have increased substantially over the years, it has also brought about bigger income disparities, unsustainable safety nets and a surge in social problems from health issues to migratory concerns that threaten the safety and well-being of individuals. Human Security: Securing East Asia’s Future timely examines the fundamental issues causing human insecurities and evaluates the extent of which human security plays a role at the state and regional levels. Covering the different areas of threats to humans and applying case study materials, this volume provides an intellectual mix of perspectives that captures the relationship between people, state and region. This book will be of interest to those studying traditional and non-traditional security/threats, Asian human development and critical policy analysis.

This book evaluates UN performance in ensuring good governance in Cambodia and Timor-Leste from a human-centred standpoint. East Asian perspectives are juxtaposed with universal aspirations, and the legality, legitimacy, and effectiveness of UN operations in the two countries are considered. Each of the case-studies assesses the justifiability of intervening and of actions and policies implemented during the intervention, as well as considers the justifiability of the conditions left after UN withdrawal, while also including specific policy recommendations.