Security cooperation in and with Asia: towards a pragmatic turn in the EU’s security policy?

ABSTRACT

Since the adoption of the first EU-Asia Strategy in 1994, there has been persistent scepticism about the EU’s ability to play a significant role in Asian security. Yet, since the release of the 2012 Updated East Asia Policy Guidelines, the EU has declared its intent to make greater practical contributions to Asian security. Against these premises, this article attempts to reflect on the evolution of the EU’s security approach to Asia, with the ultimate goal of analysing to what degree, it represents a continuation or a departure from former EU policies in the region. In scrutinising these developments, this article argues that in light of the strategic changes, that have occurred in Europe and in Asia, the EU has started to revise its security approach to the region in more pragmatic terms. The pragmatic character of the EU is seen as looking into the changes of the content of the security discourse, which appears increasingly depoliticised and, into the new practices of cooperation, which unlike in the past, seek to empower local actors, are sensitive to local needs and, call for greater security collaboration between the EU and Asian countries, to cope with regional and global challenges.     

Russia's changing security role in Central Asia

The paper explores Russia's role in security in Central Asia, which analysts interpreted as projection of hegemony. It argues that this role is changing and is shaped by a variety of factors, sometimes acting in contradiction to one another. Domestic agenda is influenced by the danger discourse on drugs and anti-migrant sentiment and urges to detach from Central Asia. Moscow maintains a military presence in the region but is uncertain if it has serious enough stakes to justify a robust approach to security. Refusal to intervene in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 serves as a potent case. Regional organisations echo the non-intervention stance. As a ‘cost-benefit’ approach to security gains momentum, the paper asks if a policy of selective engagement is emerging when only the issues threatening Russia directly will be addressed. The implication can be a security vacuum in the region, affected by ethnic conflict, inter-state disputes and the consequences of withdrawal from Afghanistan.     

保护东南亚的文化多样性：东南亚的人类口头非物质遗产

东南亚地区是世界知名的人类文化多样性的宝库，在全球化时代，保护本土民俗文化、民族传统的传承和发展成为了紧迫的任务。21世纪，联合国教科文组织把东南亚地区的9项非物质文化列入了“人类口头非物质遗产代表作”名录。本文首先梳理了“口头非物质遗产”这一文化概念的定义，以及其中的社会话语内涵；然后把入选的9项代表作进行分类归纳，探讨它们的特点；最后分析了这些代表作在文化多样性保护中面临的问题和相应的保护行动。     

中国东北亚安全利益的多维审视

中国东北亚安全利益是中国国家安全利益的重要内容之一,是中国东北亚安全战略与安全政策制定的重要依据。当前国际关系研究中,尚未对中国东北亚安全利益加以明晰的认知与界定,加强中国东北亚安全利益研究具有重要理论与现实意义。中国东北亚安全利益,可从外部环境、内在结构、现实挑战和护持策略等多维度作一全景审视。中国东北亚安全利益的环境处于既非霸权稳定又非均势和平的地区特殊安全结构之中,处于实力变异进程中稳定性趋弱的地区安全秩序之中,其实现面临难以消解的结构性困境。从东北亚安全利益的内在结构看,可分为从核心到边缘的四个层次:政治安全利益、军事安全利益、经济安全利益和生态安全利益。这四个层次的安全利益在现实层面分别面临多方面的威胁和挑战。多层次的东北亚安全利益,亦须从政治、军事、经济、生态诸维度加以维护,制定和实施全面、有效、可行的区域安全战略。为维护和实现中国的东北亚安全利益,我们要继续坚持和平发展的战略方针,以实力求和平;超越传统战略思维,以新安全观导向的地区安全战略来弱化和消解东北亚安全困境。     

俄罗斯亚太战略的利益、合作方向与前景

进入新世纪,在俄罗斯的外交战略中亚太地区的地位在不断上升。俄罗斯大部分国土位于亚洲,所以在利用外交手段维护国家领土安全,并为本国东部地区的经济发展创造有利外部条件的同时,提升俄罗斯在亚太地区的影响力,是俄罗斯实施亚太战略的主要目标与利益所在。目前,俄罗斯与亚太地区的合作主要体现在能源、交通运输、粮食和安全保障等领域。但由于受俄罗斯东部地区的经济发展水平,以及俄罗斯参与亚太合作的矛盾心理,特别是与区域内各大国之间的关系等多方面因素的影响,俄罗斯与亚太关系的发展缺乏稳固的基础,进一步发展面临制约。     

挑战与机遇:东亚一体化视野中的非传统安全合作

当前,传统安全威胁较冷战时期大为减弱,而形形色色的非传统安全威胁成为危害国家和地区安全甚至全球稳定的主要因素。东亚非传统安全合作较为成功,在实践中取得了明显成效,但客观上还存在一些不足之处。非传统安全合作增强了东亚国家的相互了解与互信,培育了地区认同意识和归属意识,促进了东亚合作机制向深度和广度拓展,为一体化深入发展提供了坚实的结构支撑。另一方面,东亚特殊的安全格局和错综复杂的历史与现实矛盾使地区非传统安全合作面临诸多挑战,同时也蕴涵了重要机遇。     

东北亚战略安全新变化与中国和平发展的理性思考

东北亚战略安全新变化根源于东北亚战略结构的演变。东北亚战略安全新变化导致中国维护国家安全压力增大,面临不同意识形态挑战的压力持续上升,与周边国家合作成本增加,国家合作将更加困难。中国维护东北亚战略安全必须以包容性增长为东北亚战略安全合作发展的前提条件;确保中国经济社会的稳定与发展是维护东北亚战略安全的基础;和平解决朝核危机,维护朝鲜半岛安全是维护东北亚战略安全的关键;发展睦邻友好关系,稳定周边环境是维护东北亚战略安全的必然选择;积极倡导探索建立新的安全合作机制是维护东北亚战略安全的最终归宿。     

Negotiated peace versus victor's peace: the geopolitics of peace and conflict in Sri Lanka

In examining the failure of the 2002 peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), this essay argues for the need to go beyond the power dynamics of the local actors. The peace process was dismantled and military victory by the Sri Lankan government made possible not so much by the Sinhala nationalist discourse, which opposed administration of development aid by the LTTE, as by the global security discourse associated with geo-strategic interests. The EU-led development discourse, which was informed by the liberal internationalist ethos, could have facilitated resolution and transformation of the conflict. In its place a security-based, realist discourse was prioritized in South Asia by the UK and US governments, particularly after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the discourse which provided the material basis for the Sinhala nationalists to consolidate their power in pursuing a military victory. The post-war era is marked by geopoliticization of the human rights discourse, deepening the conflict. This essay explores the correlation between the liberal peace model, human rights, international relations and geopolitics.     

Norway between NATO,the EU,and the US: A Case Study of Post-Cold War Security and Defence Discourse

This article addresses the post-Cold War security and defence discourse in Norway, focusing on the impact of the transformation of NATO, an increasingly ambitious EU within security matters and the transatlantic tensions in the War on Terror. The article argues that changes or continuity in policy result from the discursive battle between various power constellations, which are forcing conflicting understandings of reality on each other. In this battle, the dominant representation frames NATO's transformation as a precondition for national defence with reference to alliance solidarity, loyalty and interoperability. The alternative representation, on the other hand, has framed NATO's transformation as negative for national defence, claiming that forces trained for global, warlike missions are neither capable nor available for national defence tasks such as containment of Russia's strategic interests in the Barents Sea. The EU has been brought into the security and defence discourse only when new integration steps, such as the European security and defence policy and EU Battle Groups, put the question of how far Norway may participate, to a test. However, developments like the slow withering away of NATO and unilateralist US foreign policy on Iraq are contributing to pushing the Norwegian discourse, and hence policy, closer to Europe.     

The insecurities of weaponised education: a critical discourse analysis of the securitised education discourse in North-West Pakistan

This article presents a critical discourse analysis of the discourse surrounding education, international development and security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, North-West Pakistan. The article notes the dissonance between a discourse emphasising global security and the experienced insecurity faced by schools and students in North-West Pakistan, under attack from the Pakistani Taliban (the most notable attack being the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012). This analysis examines the impact of securitisation on the discursive production of the political realm, exploring whether securitisation engenders security or insecurity. Three key findings emerge. First, the purpose of securitised education becomes fixed on ‘mindset transformation’ from an extremist mindset to an educated mindset. Second, students are transformed into soldiers fighting against extremism as education becomes weaponised. Third, the discourse blurs the distinction between the uneducated and extremist, and the figure of the ‘threatening, uneducated Other’ emerges. The discursive production of such oppositional subjectivities throws into question whether the international community’s intervention in education in North-West Pakistan, in order to improve security and fight extremism, is not in fact producing greater insecurity.     

民族主义与区域主义--论后冷战时代东北亚安全观念建构的双重困境

在后冷战时代,东北亚“混合型区域主义”的矛盾性、复杂性和流变性要求人们不要以西方的经验来评估和判定东北亚的区域主义,而在逻辑上和事实上呈现出多重张力的东北亚民族主义又使东北亚的安全现实日益严峻。对后冷战时代的东北亚安全观念建构而言,二者之间的张力构成了现实和理论上的双重困境。这种困境也昭示了后冷战时代东北亚安全观念建构所面临的复杂性、紧迫性和脆弱性。突破和超越这种双重困境的关键在于:东北亚各国如何消融国内日益增强的民族主义情绪,东北亚的知识界如何应对西方主导的全球主义意识形态和学术话语霸权的挑战以及东北亚社会如何汲取传统的东亚体系的合理因子,以避免新的帝国观念和帝国体系的出现。     

亚洲安全治理转型的历史分析与趋势展望

冷战对亚洲安全格局产生了根本影响,助推美国在亚洲安全格局中的主导地位,由此形成支离破碎、犬牙交错的地缘安全格局,迟滞地区国家探索亚洲安全治理的进程,导致多种安全观剧烈碰撞、相互影响并复杂互动,使亚洲形成两极之间的中间地带,为世界走向多极化创造了条件。从公共产品供给角度分析,亚洲安全治理主要存在美国主导的亚洲安全治理、东盟主导的地区安全合作和以中国为代表的亚洲新安全观及其实践,各种类型的安全治理在现实中并存共生,相互影响,相互作用,形成当今亚洲复杂多元的安全治理体系。中国在积极倡导新型安全理念、共同维护地区安全、探索安全治理新模式、强化大国战略互信、管控周边难点热点问题等方面,采取了一系列负责任、建设性、可预期的政策和举措,并取得了积极效果。亚洲安全架构建设依然任重道远,中国要以新安全观为指引,积极推动新安全观同地区各方安全理念和治理模式对接,推进亚洲地区安全架构建设,深化同有关国家的互信合作,推动构建亚洲命运共同体,在促进亚太安全治理和推动亚太安全新格局的构建中承担更大责任,发挥更大作用,作出更大贡献。     

东北亚大国关系中第三方因素及地区安全共同治理

中日关系经济上的合作依存度与政治上的纷争摩擦常态化这一结构性的矛盾日趋显现.从更深层次上探究中日政治经济所处的这种分裂状态根源,从本质上讲背后蕴涵着东北亚大国关系中的域外因素:即美国的第三方因素,其对东北亚的和平稳定发挥着特殊作用.东北亚大国在地区的竞争摩擦时常较为突出,但中美日在东亚地区还是蕴涵着许多重大的共同利益.东北亚传统的"管制型"安全模式需向大国共同"治理型"模式转变趋向,意味着大国区域安全治理的权利、利益、责任的平等与分享,地区安全治理是在大国协作框架下的共同治理,应注重大国在地区安全事务中的关键作用.     

The Berlin Republic,Iraq, and the Use of Force

This article holds that German security policy and attitudes towards the use of force remain framed by the distinct strategic culture that emerged during West Germany’s rearmament and international rehabilitation in the 1950’s. This strategic culture, characterised by strong anti-military sentiment and a commitment to multilateral diplomacy and international law, determined Germany’s position over Iraq and its ongoing opposition to the US-led invasion of the country. However, the strength and highly vociferous nature of Germany’s opposition to US policy also indicated that German strategic culture is itself evolving, as both elites and society reconsider aspects of German national history and the role of collective memory. Much of this new discourse relates to the notion of the ‘Berlin Republic’, which in foreign and security policy terms is synonymous with the emergence of greater self confidence, the introduction of more ‘national’ vocabulary into foregin policy statements and a less reflexive attitude to transatlantic security.     

Can the EU be a serious security actor in Asia?

Following the US “pivot” to Asia, the European Union (EU) announced its own pivot to Asia in 2012 with stepped-up engagement. A flurry of high-level visits to Asia, and in particular, Southeast Asia, by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy followed. The EU is looking for a much more comprehensive engagement of Asia, but at the same time, within Asia; there is always this nagging doubt as to whether the EU can be a serious security actor in Asia. This short brief surveys the constructive role that the EU can play in Asia and argues that the EU should stop fretting about whether it is seen as a serious security actor in Asia and instead focus on what it can do best and do its best in Asia.     

试论东盟对东亚共同体形成所起的作用

近10余年来由于受到“全球化”大潮的冲击,在东亚也出现了“地域化”思潮。面对同样的挑战,东亚各国已经意识到采取共同的经济文化防卫机制的迫切性与重要性。其中,东盟各国表现出了强烈的主体性。从亚洲主义的角度分析东亚地域所产生的“地域化”、“本土化”趋势的实质,可以确证东盟对东亚地区的经济合作、文化共创进而对东亚共同体的最终形成将日益发挥越来越重要的作用。     

Evidence of Russia's Bush Doctrine in the CIS1

Abstract

The article discusses the emergence of a Russian version of the Bush doctrine in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russian officials’ conceptual stretching of the strategic culture embodied in the National Security Concept (NSC) and the Military Doctrine (MD) from 2000 onwards. While these documents seem to cherish multilateralism and United Nations (UN) primacy in questions of global and regional security, terrorist attacks on Russia proper have engendered a more assertive approach to regional security issues in the Caucasus and Central Asia and brought Russian officials to consider unilateral pre-emptive strikes against terrorist bases. In the case of the Caucasus, Russia has been striking against terrorist bases on Georgian territory and contributed to constructing a failed state, whereas in the Central Asian case, Russia has sought to revitalise the defunct CIS security framework and pledge assistance to ‘allies’ in the fight against terrorism. The article argues that the war against terrorism has given Russia a new footing in the CIS. The issue of security is more salient, as is the reliance on military force to facilitate it.     

Narcotics,Radicalism, and Armed Conflict in Central Asia: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

While the academic debate on security has broadened in recent years, it has failed to cohesively include transnational organized crime and drug trafficking as a security issue. However, especially in weak states in developing and postcommunist regions, these phenomena are having an increasingly negative effect on security in the military, political, economic, and societal sense. Security issues in Central Asia are a prominentexample of the links between drug trafficking and military threats to security. This is illustrated most clearly by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which has been both a major actor in the drug trade from Afghanistan to Central Asia as well as the most serious violent nonstate actor in the region. The link between the drug trade and armed conflict is of fundamental importance to understanding the challenges to Central Asian security.     

Multilateral donors and the security-development nexus: discourse and practice in conflict-affected states

This article assesses how the ‘security-development nexus’ has impacted multilateral aid to conflict-affected states; an area until now understudied. Using a mixed methods approach, we examine both the policy discourse and aid commitments of the major multilateral donors: the European Commission, the World Bank and the UNDP. We investigate the extent to which these donors fund the sectors identified within the policy discourse as crucial to ensuring peace and stability – democratisation and peace, conflict, and security activities – and examine the impact of ‘Western’ security concerns on multilateral aid in conflict-affected states. Our new data indicate that in contrast to policy discourse, post-conflict states receive no more multilateral funding for democracy–building than states which have not suffered from conflict and furthermore, that in the context of the security-development nexus, multilateral aid to conflict-affected states is influenced by the key transnational security concerns of Western states. These results point to a potentially dangerous gap between policy and actual aid commitments, ignore the long-term nature of development and weaken the impartiality of multilateral aid.     

2012年国际战略与安全走势分析

2012年国际战略与安全形势将承接2011年出现的新态势向前发展。全球经济发展依旧困难重重,美欧等西方家金融经济危机的政治社会效应更趋突出;中东地区动荡呈长期化趋势;美国将战略重心向亚太转移,导致亚太地区格局重组加速;国际规制将进一步变革重塑,中国扩大参与规制重建和提升国际话语权的紧迫性将进一步上升,与外部世界互动不断面临新情况和新挑战。