Asian Security Practice: Material and Ideational Influences

Despite the end of the Cold War, security continues to be a critical concern of Asian states. Allocations of state revenues to the security sector continue to be substantial and have, in fact, increased in several countries. As Asian nations construct a new security architecture for the Asia-Pacific region, Asian security has received increased attention by the scholarly community. But most of that scholarship has focused on specific issues or selected countries. This book aims to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of Asian security by investigating conceptions of security in sixteen Asian countries. The book undertakes an ethnographic, country-by-country study of how Asian states conceive of their security. For each country, it identifies and explains the security concerns and behavior of central decision makers, asking who or what is to be protected, against what potential threats, and how security policies have changed over time. This inside-out or bottom-up approach facilitates both identification of similarities and differences in the security thinking and practice of Asian countries and exploration of their consequences. The crucial insights into the dynamics of international security in the region provided by this approach can form the basis for further inquiry, including debates about the future of the region.

Table of Contents:
Preface Contributors Introduction Part I. Conceptual and Historical Perspectives: 1. Rethinking security: a critical review and appraisal of the debate Muthiah Alagappa 2. International politics in Asia: the historical context Muthiah Alagappa Part II. Security Practice: Country Studies: 3. China: security practice of a modernizing and ascending power Wu Xinbo 4. India: modified structuralism Kanti Bajpai 5. Japan: normative constraints versus structural imperatives Yoshihide Soeya 6. North Korea: deterrence through danger David Kang 7. South Korea: recasting security paradigms Chung-in Moon 8. Taiwan: in the dragon's shadow Roger Cliff 9. Bangladesh: a weak state and power Iftekharuzzaman 10. Pakistan: the crisis within Samina Ahmed 11. Sri Lanka: the many faces of security Nira Wickramasinghe 12. Myanmar: preoccupation with regime survival, national security Panitan Wattanayagorn 14. Vietnam: struggle and cooperation Kim Ninh 15. Indonesea: domestic priorities define national security Dewi Fortuna Anwar 16. Malaysia: reinventing the nation K. S. Nathan 17. The Philippines: state versus society? Noel M. Morada and Christopher Collier 18. Singapore: realist cum trading state Narayanan Ganesan Part III. Conclusion: 19. Asian practice of security: key features and explanations Muthiah Alagappa 20. Conceptualizing security: hierarchy and conceptual travelling Muthiah Alagappa Notes Bibliography Index.

About the Author :
Muthiah Alagappa is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the East-West Center. He is the editor of Asian Security Order: Instrumental and Normative Features (Stanford, 2003), Coercion and Governance: The Declining Political Role of the Military in Asia (Stanford, 2001), Asian Security Practice: Material and Ideational Influences (Stanford, 1998), and Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority (Stanford, 1995).

Review :
"It is not often that a book of this quality, substance, and scope appears...This book is, without a doubt, a major contribution to the literature on the Asian security practice and one which can be confidently predicted to become a standard reference for many years to come." - Journal of Asian Studies