Teaching international relations in Southeast Asia: historical memory, academic context, and politics - an introduction

The teaching of international relations (IR) at universitiesin Southeast Asia plays a role in the production of knowledgeabout the IR of Southeast Asia. As a complement to the scrutinyof published research output, a focus on teaching offers onepathway toward comprehending the constitution of meaning inboth the IR of Southeast Asia and the broader IR discipline.This introduction to a collection of essays on the teachingof IR in Southeast Asia also discusses the potential ways bywhich attention to teaching may uncover the socializing roleof pedagogy. An inquiry into the discipline as it is taughtin the region throws light on how particular national legitimatingmyths are reproduced, the transmission of collective historicalmemories, the dominance of certain schools of internationalthought, and the role of civil society in Southeast Asian knowledgeproduction. Received for publication August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication October 7, 2008.     

International relations in Indonesia: historical legacy, political intrusion, and commercialization

This paper is about the development of international relations(IR) as a field of study in Indonesian universities. It arguesthat IR as a discipline has been encountering a paradox. Onthe one hand, while the discipline has been increasingly heldin high esteem by students, marked by an increasing number ofapplicants to IR departments across the country; on the otherhand, IR scholars show too little commitment to research andpublication for the development of the discipline; and if theydo publish, the quality of writing is generally poor. This articleindicates that the paradox of teaching IR in Indonesia has muchto do with historical legacies and political intrusion, as wellas an economic environment in which universities are increasinglydriven toward commercial activities. All these factors shapethe current development of social science in general, and IRin particular. Received for publication August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication October 7, 2008.     

Teaching international relations in Singapore 1956-2008: from supporting development to global city aspirations?

This preliminary survey of international relations (IR) teachingin Singapore argues that while the hegemonic goals of the nation-statehave been pervasive since 1956, the influences upon IR teachinghave become more complex and subtle in tandem with Singapore'stransition from pristine developmentalism to an aspiring globalcity. Today, IR teaching has acquired characteristics of a divisionof labor among the main universities, research institutes, andbusiness-oriented schools. Nonetheless, the dialectics of whetherthe future lies in open-ended knowledge inquiry or hewing tosome version of state-associated pragmatism remains unresolved. Received for publication August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication October 7, 2008.     

International relations in Malaysia: theories, history, memory, perception, and context

The article makes a preliminary survey of the teaching of internationalrelations (IR) in Malaysia. It starts by describing the originsof the field, and the emergence of an IR epistemic communityjoining both academia and government. This account is necessarilyderived from the experiences of the four most established Malaysianuniversities distinguished by length of existence and officialfavor. Subsequently, the survey would describe course contentand influences going into their design. The penultimate sectionswould attempt to place the evolution of Malaysian IR teachingwithin a historical context. This survey nonetheless concludesthat nationalist aspirations continue to remain a secondaryinfluence when compared with intellectual dependence upon theWest in the design of IR education in Malaysia. Received for publication August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication October 2, 2008.     

Teaching international relations in Vietnam: chances and challenges

This paper traces the evolution of the teaching of internationalrelations (IR) in Vietnam, from the establishment of the firstInstitute of International Relations in 1959 to the proliferationof departments of IR or international studies from the 1990s.It notes the limitations facing teachers of IR and efforts todevelop and standardize the curriculum in recent years. It alsoexamines the way national history is portrayed in the teachingof Vietnam's foreign policy and regional relations in SoutheastAsia, with increasing attention paid to the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations from the 1990s. Received for publication August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication October 2, 2008.     

Are there any theories of international relations in Japan?

This article argues that there are theories of internationalrelations (IR) in Japan and that these theories are mostly ofmiddle range type. I first give a brief survey of IR studiesin Japan and its disciplinary backgrounds. On that basis, thenI focus on the three outstanding cases of fledgling theoriesof IR as developed in the 1920s and 1930s, namely Nishida asan innate constructivist, Tabata as an international law theoristpresupposing the natural freedom of individuals, and Hiranoas an economist placing regional integration higher than statesovereignty, to develop the argument that there are indeed theoriesof IR in a fledgling form already before World War II. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.     

Norman Angell and His French Contemporaries, 1905–1914

On the occasion of the Centenary of the publication of Norman Angell's The Great Illusion, this article explores the extent to which Angell was influenced by his French contemporaries. He was living in France for the ten years previous to the book's publication and working as a newspaper editor and commentator. The main currents of French political thinking of that period are explored. The main conclusion reached is that Angell had little impact on French thinking at the time and it had not much on him. But it is argued that the reasons for this seeming mutual ignorance had profound effects on the development of thinking about international relations before 1914 and continue to haunt the way we think about IR in the “Anglo–Saxon” countries and in France itself.     

The seventh withdrawal: has the US forces' journey back home from Korea begun?

This article analyzes the reasons that led to the six UnitedStates forces withdrawals from South Korea between 1947 and2008 and the Republic of Korea's responses to these policies.The article discusses the local and global aspects of theseforces' functions and tasks and attempts to understand why Koreahas not prepared itself for the withdrawal of the US forcesthroughout the years. The article will argue that there mightbe a seventh withdrawal of US forces from Korea in the nearfuture, which South Korea and the USA should begin preparingfor. Received for publication December 20, 2007. Accepted for publication March 28, 2008.     

柏威夏古寺争端的由来、影响和发展趋势

柏威夏寺是柬埔寨吴哥王朝（公元802—1431）时期兴建的古寺。第二次世界大战后泰国与束埔寨围绕柏威夏古寺的归属问题一直有争论。1962年,海牙国际法庭裁决古寺属于柬埔寨。2008年柬埔寨向联合国教科文组织申请将该寺列为世界文化遗产,引发泰国的不满。两国几乎发生武装冲突。文章重点介绍了柏威夏寺争端的由来,并对目前形势的发展进行了分析。     

泰国:2008～2009年回顾与展望

街头政治乱象不断 过去的2008年对泰国而言是极其不寻常的一年.有媒体甚至用川剧的"变脸"来形容这个被誉为"微笑国度"的政治局势.泰国政坛在2008年呈现给世人一幕幕惊人的画面,三度更替政权,政局动荡成为本年度的主题.长达半年多的大规模街头抗议活动,连续两任总理被宪法法院裁决下台,乃至抗议者封堵泰国两大机场,导致数10万外国人滞留机场,泰国的空中通道陷入瘫痪.泰国的政治乱象不断.     

泰国：2007年回顾与2008年展望

继2006年泰国军事政变之后，2007年的泰国政局充满了党派的争斗和变数。一年内，素拉育临时政府两次改组内阁。8月，新宪法获得通过；12月23日，泰国大选如期举行，人民力量党胜出并在2008年初与其他政党联合组建新一届政府。亚洲金融危机过去整整10年，许多机构认为泰国已经从经济危机中恢复过来，但经济危机的阴影仍然广泛存在。     

The balance of great-power influence in contemporary Southeast Asia

This article reviews and critiques recent scholarly work onSoutheast Asian relations with the great powers, examining thestrategies that ASEAN governments have used and the effectsof those strategies. The author argues that Southeast Asiangovernments have generally steered away from traditional balanceof power politics to promote a more complex ‘balance ofinfluence’ comprising military, economic, institutional,and ideational dimensions. A key feature of this balance ofinfluence strategy has been its inclusiveness. Southeast Asiangovernments have invited competing great powers to participatein the region's economic and diplomatic affairs so that theydevelop stakes in the region's peace and prosperity. The authorcontends that Southeast Asian efforts have been relatively successfulto date, contributing to a multi-dimensional balance that isrelatively resilient and places significant constraints on anyexternal power's ability to exercise unwanted dominance in theregion. Received for publication August 4, 2008. Accepted for publication September 24, 2008.     

US economic statecraft in East Asia

Linkage politics in the US were revived after the terroristattacks in 2001 as the US endeavored to bolster its positionin the international system. This paper examines current USeconomic statecraft in East Asia, particularly through the useof the preferential trade agreement instrument. As the US encountersincreasing threats in the region through China's economic andmilitary expansion, the emergence of Islamic militancy, andcontinuing tensions on the Korean peninsula, it is attemptingto reinforce its strategic position through the economic reinforcementof its bilateral politico-military alliances. However, as theestablishment of its recent free trade agreements has revealed,neo-mercantilist politics, as motivated by US Congressionalattention to domestic lobbying, present a risk to this strategy.It is possible that this tendency to economic nationalism, asevidenced in the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement, willdetract from the broader purpose of reinforcing the US strategicposition in the region. Received for publication April 10, 2007. Accepted for publication February 19, 2008.     

“金三角”地区泰国北部毒品形势调查报告

为全面掌握“金三角”地区毒情形势，为中国禁毒战略和除源截流战役提供信息和对策性支持，笔者一行于2007年12月24日至2008年1月4日赴泰国北部地区考察泰北地区毒情，了解近年来泰国北部地区的禁毒情况。     

Malaysia's 2005-2006 refugee stand-off with Thailand: a security culture analysis

In September of 2005, Malaysia–Thailand relations werestressed by an incident in which 131 Thai Muslims fled acrossthe Southern Thai border to seek refuge in Malaysia. The Malaysiangovernment initially refused to return these ‘asylum seekers,’and eventually chose to internationalize the situation by callingon the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). Malaysia'sdecision to internationalize the issue points to potential instabilityin Malaysia-Thailand bilateral relations and reflects severalinternal political problems faced by United Malays NationalOrganization (UMNO) central decisions makers. This paper seeksto explain the Malaysian central government's security perspectiveon the northern border region. To do this, I employ MuthiahAlagappa's framework for security culture analysis in an attemptto understand Malaysian security culture from the perspectiveof that culture's central decision makers themselves. (Alagappa,M ed., (1998) Asian Security Practice: Material and IdeationalInfluences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.) Received for publication September 15, 2006. Accepted for publication October 10, 2007.     

泰国社会转型过程中的“缓冲器”——制造可控的政治危机

20世纪90年代以来,泰国正经历着社会的全面转型,社会转型带来不可避免的社会动荡。然而有着自身政治发展规律的泰国却通过制造一系列可控的政治危机消减社会转型造成的过剩能量,维持着整个社会的基本稳定,推进着国内政治的发展。可以预见,在泰国社会转型没有最终完成之前,其国内政治危机仍将是社会常态。     

大湄公河次区域国家2013年政局述评

2013年对大湄公河次区域国家来说可谓是不平静的一年，5个次区域国家发生了许多事情：越南《反贪污腐败法》开始实施；6月，缅甸昂山素季在世界经济论坛会议上明确宣布竞选缅甸总统，而2008年宪法关于总统候选人或其配偶子女不得是外国人的规定成为她竞选总统的障碍，于是她在这一年走上了谋求修宪之旅；在泰国，2013年上半年政局稳定，下半年发生了反政府示威活动，2014年的泰国政局注定不会平静；柬埔寨首相洪森在7月28日结束的大选中再次当选。     

泰国高层对南海争端的看法

泰国本身并非南海主权申索国,但试图在南海问题上扮演协调者的角色。泰国官方对南海争端给予极高的关注度。本文试从泰国主流媒体近两年所刊载的泰国官方对南海争端的表态,尤其是总理和各部首脑的发言,对泰国政府在南海争端中的基本立场进行分析解读。     

Why is there no Chinese international relations theory?

There is not yet a Chinese international relations theory (IRT)mainly due to three factors: the unconsciousness of ‘international-ness’in the traditional Chinese worldview, the dominance of the WesternIR discourse in the Chinese academic community, and the absenceof a consistent theoretical core in the Chinese IR research.A Chinese IRT is likely and even inevitable to emerge alongwith the great economic and social transformation that Chinahas been experiencing and by exploring the essence of the Chineseintellectual tradition. The Tianxia worldview and the TributarySystem in the two millennia of China's history, the radicalthinking and revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth century,and reform and opening-up since 1978 are the three milestonesof China's ideational and practical development and thereforecould provide rich nutrition for a Chinese IRT. In addition,a Chinese IRT is likely to develop around the core problematicof China's identity vis-à-vis international society,a century-long puzzle for the Chinese and the world alike. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.