Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond

The threats the world currently faces extend beyond traditional problems such as major power competition, interstate conflict, and nuclear proliferation. Non-traditional security challenges such as climate change, migration, and natural disasters surpass states’ capacity to address them. These limitations have led to the proliferation of other actors—regional and international organizations, transnational networks, local and international nongovernmental organizations—that fill the gaps when states’ responses are lacking and provide security in places where there is none. In this book, Mely Caballero-Anthony examines how non-traditional security challenges have changed state behavior and security practices in Southeast Asia and the wider East Asia region. Referencing the wide range of transborder security threats confronting Asia today, she analyzes how non-state actors are taking on the roles of “security governors,” engaging with states, regional organizations, and institutional frameworks to address multifaceted problems. From controlling the spread of pandemics and transboundary pollution, to managing irregular migration and providing relief and assistance during humanitarian crises, Caballero-Anthony explains how and why non-state actors have become crucial across multiple levels—local, national, and regional—and how they are challenging regional norms and reshaping security governance. Combining theoretical discussions on securitization and governance with a detailed and policy-oriented analysis of important recent developments, Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond points us toward “state-plus” governance, where a multiplicity of actors form the building blocks for multilateral cooperative security processes to meet future global challenges.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Abbreviations 1. Security Governance in Southeast Asia and Beyond 2. State and Non-State Actors and NTS Governance in Southeast Asia and Beyond 3. Governance of Health Security 4. Governance of Environmental Security 5. Governance of Migration 6. Governance of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations 7. Governance of Nuclear Energy 8. Governance of Food Security Conclusion: Building Security Governance in Times of Turbulence and Uncertainty Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Mely Caballero-Anthony is professor of international relations and head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also secretary general of the Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia. Her many publications include An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies (2016).

Review :
Mely Caballero-Anthony is a pioneer of non-traditional security studies and this is the definitive book on the subject from a Southeast Asian perspective. An intriguing analysis of an underappreciated reality: the extent to which governments and non-government actors are now effectively cooperating, collaborating and responding collectively to a multitude of non-traditional threats to human security around Southeast and East Asia – from natural disasters to health crises to environmental and migration challenges. As Mely Caballero-Anthony makes clear in this lucid, scholarly and comprehensive work, state-centric preoccupation with military threats to national security is not the only game in town. This book features impressive research, a clear and effective framework of analysis, and insightful observations in showing why those concerned with security in Asia must go beyond the headlines of China's rise and the North Korean threats to fully understand the region's security dynamics. Specialists have long known of the importance of non-traditional security issues in the region and the leading role of non-state actors in dealing with them. Now they have a single-authored assessment providing thorough and lucid treatment of the subject that ranks with the best studies on the topic. Surveying an economically vibrant but also volatile region, Mely Caballero-Anthony connects the dots of the diverse security challenges Southeast Asia faces. She outlines a way of responding to them that acknowledges that security and insecurity today consist of inter-linked multiple facets. Her insights on security governance in Southeast Asia have resonance for other regions and merit wide attention.