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Begin New Search Political Geography Southeast Asia Content Type Journal Article Journal International Politics

1. Regions in the world: The EU and East Asia as foreign policy actors

Author:
Cesar de Prado
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
This article argues that multidimensional regional processes have an external projection that may be explained by their semi-liberal governance structures. It analyses the European Union (EU) and the East Asian grouping of countries, focussing on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the active participation of Japan, South Korea and the People's Republic of China within ASEAN Plus Three. Both regional processes have a multi-level external projection as seen in their links with key states (especially the United States), other regional processes, and global regimes like the UN and the G20. In both cases, one finds that public actors have to collaborate with private actors, although they do so in a restricted fashion and often using think tanks and elite public-private intellectual (track-2) actors. The comparative analysis concludes with some hypotheses regarding the consolidation of regional processes in the world.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and United Nations
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Taiwan, East Asia, South Korea, and Southeast Asia

2. EU and ASEAN: Issues of regional security

Author:
Nicholas Rees
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
The article critically explores how, and in what ways, the EU and ASEAN have addressed contemporary security issues, including non-traditional security threats. The comparison of the EU and ASEAN responses to these threats highlights the different forms and functions that regional integration has taken in Europe and Southeast Asia, and the implications of these differences for intra- and extra-regional security cooperation. The article considers how the EU and ASEAN might work more cooperatively together, noting some existing examples in which experiences and good practice are already shared, as well as other areas in which cooperation might be possible. The article concludes that while security cooperation in the EU and ASEAN, as well as between the two regional entities, is problematic, reflecting differing regional and national interests and organisational capabilities, there are concrete areas in which cooperation is possible.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Europe and Southeast Asia

3. Positions of responsibility: A comparison of ASEAN and EU approaches towards Myanmar

Author:
Alistair D B Cook
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
Recent challenges have tested the approaches of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) to adequately respond to forced migration in Myanmar. This article provides a comparison between the European sanctions regime and ASEAN's 'constructive engagement' with Myanmar. In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, it is ASEAN, along with the United Nations (UN), that has offered an effective mechanism to access populations of concern in Myanmar. This article draws on the experience of the UN High Commission for Refugees on the western border and argues that while the new ASEAN-UN-led mechanism offers a new way to assist people in the delta region, this access is contingent on three constraints: maintenance of personal relations with military decision-makers, continuation of an ASEAN-UN-led mechanism and ongoing funding from donor nations.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar