Non-Traditional Security in Asia: Dilemmas in Securitization(Global Security in a Changing World)

The security issues confronting Asia are both complex and diverse. Given the increasing trend towards an expanding security agenda beyond the military dimension of inter-state relations, this volume provides an extensive study of emerging non-traditional challenges to this region. New realities and new challenges have come to the fore including environmental degradation, illegal immigration, infectious diseases, transnational crime, poverty and underdevelopment. Drawing upon the concepts of securitization and de-securitization, this book brings together regional perspectives from across Asia to examine how these challenges are perceived and managed. It is a valuable contribution to both security and Asian studies and will be ideally suited to those interested in security studies, international relations and development studies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Understanding the dynamics of securitizing non-traditional security, Mely Caballero-Anthony and Ralf Emmers; Securitization matrix in South Asia: Bangladeshi migrants as enemy alien, Priyankar Upadhyaya; Malaysia's approach to Indonesian migrant labor: securitization, politics or catharsis?, Joseph Chinyong Liow; Securitizing Piracy in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, the International Maritime Bureau and Singapore, J.N. Mak; Securitizing small arms and drug trafficking in Indonesia, Riefqi Muna; Disease and the complex processes of securitization in the Asia-Pacific, Peter Chalk; Securitizing the AIDS issue in Asia, Ilavenil Ramiah; Securitizing health in violence affected areas of Indonesia, Samsu Rizal Panggabean; Poverty and the role of NGOs in protecting human security in Indonesia, Bob Hadiwinata; China in the Mekong river basin: the regional security implications of resource development on the Lancang Jiang, Evelyn Goh; Securitization in Asia: functional and normative implications, Amitav Acharya; Index.

About the Author :
Amitav Acharya is Deputy Director and Head of Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His areas of specialisation include regionalism and multilateralism, Asian regional security and international relations theory. Mely Caballero-Anthony is Assistant Professor and IDSS-FORD Project Coordinator of Non-Traditional Security at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her areas of specialisation include regionalism and multilateralism, non-traditional security, human security, comparative politics and international relations of Southeast Asia. Ralf Emmers is Assistant Professor and Deputy Head of Studies at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include security studies, international institutions and regionalism in Asia Pacific.

Review :
'A much needed empirically rich addition to the securitization literature. This book is much more than a coverage of NTS in Asia, it develops, problematises and enriches our understanding of the securitization/desecuritization process. The theoretical developments are on their own invaluable but its application to Asia addresses one of the critiques of securitization - that it is Euro-centric - and in so doing this volume helps to elucidate that critique.' Alan Collins, University of Wales Swansea, UK '...this volume is a collection of solid research work which succeeds in bringing together regional perspectives and examining how they are perceived and managed.' Journal of Comparative Asian Development '...likely to pose greater challenge and stimulation to advanced students who would like to srestle with the linkage between theory and practice, and with ideas between the East and West.' Australasian Journal of Human Security '...this is a useful extension of the scholarship on securitization and an interesting set of analyses on a range of understudied challenges in Asian security.' Pacific Affairs '...the volume is an extremely valuable contribution to the study of post-1989 security considerations in Asia. The erudite perspectives presented by the authors respond to a nascent requirement to initiate a process of contextualizing the evaluation of global experiences.' Political Studies Review