EU in ASEM: its role in framing inter-regional cooperation with East Asian countries

This study is an institutional analysis that aims at answering the questions: What are the underlying rules or principles of the existing structure within ASEM? What will be the results of functioning of this mechanism? What do these results imply on the future relations of the two regions? The institutional structure of ASEM is based on four main principles: promoting regional integration, enhancing multilateralism inside and outside ASEM, decentralizing transnational cooperation and promoting issue-specific dialogue, and basing all activities, dialogues and discussions on willingness of members. As a consequence, the functioning of this mechanism leads to consolidation of multilateral structure in East Asia as well as to a promotion of knowledge-based policy discussion. The ASEM process have not realized a partnership among equals; rather it put the European members in an advantageous position vis-à-vis the Asian partners because Europeans are well-coordinated, able to mobilize more resource and equipped with various expertise.     

Exploring political determinants of the magnitude of financial reforms in developing countries

This paper aims to empirically explore political determinantsof the magnitude of financial reforms, namely, under which conditionsa country is more likely to choose a ‘big-bang’type of financial reform versus a gradual financial reform.Especially, how the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) effecton the magnitude of financial reforms is conditioned by politicalinstitutions is quantitatively examined using 30 developingcountries' data from 1973 to 2002. Results demonstrate thatthe IMF's effect on facilitating a big-bang type of financialreforms is contingent upon the number of veto players in thecase of a democratic government. Also, a non-democratic governmentis more likely to engage in big-bang type of financial reformsthan a democratic government, holding other conditions constant. Received for publication October 8, 2006. Accepted for publication December 12, 2006.     

Conclusion: On the possibility of a non-Western IR theory in Asia

In the conclusion, we seek to ascertain the possibility of anon-Western International Relations theory (IRT) in Asia. Wefind while there is a good deal of writing that can be regardedas ‘pre-theoretical’, these have not been fullyexploited or exported to other parts of Asia and beyond. Thereis certainly little that can be called an Asian IRT. This isnot because scholars in the region accept that Western IRT isunchallengeable nor that it has found all the answers to themajor problems of international relations. Nor is it becausenon-Western theories are ‘hidden from the public eye’.It is rather due to a lack of institutional resources, the head-startof Western IRT, and especially the hegemonic standing of WesternIRT. At the same time, the case studies point to the existenceof abundant intellectual and historical resources that couldserve as the basis of developing a non-Western IRT that takesinto account the positions, needs and cultures of countriesin the region. There is room in Asia for the development ofnon-Western IRT, but not an ‘Asian School of internationalrelations’ (although national perspectives such as a ‘ChineseSchool’ are possible) which would assume a degree of convergenceof perspectives and interactions among Asian scholars, whichclearly does not exist. This development should and could gobeyond simply ‘joining in to the existing game seekingto add local colour and cases to existing theory’, ordeveloping a localist exceptionalism (‘Asian values’)or organizing local thinking into rebellions against prevailingorthodoxies (especially realism and liberalism) in the mannerof the dependencia theory. Western IRT does not need to be replaced,but can and should be enriched with the addition of more voicesand a wider rooting not just in world history but also in informedrepresentations of both core and periphery perspectives withinthe ever-evolving global political, economic and social order. In the conclusion, we first offer some generalizations fromthe four case studies with a view to addressing the main questionposed in the introduction: the apparent absence of IRT in Asiaand possible explanations behind it. We then reflect on whetherthe question of a non-Western IRT in Asia is a meaningful one,and whether the way it is approached in this special issue couldresult in a productive debate that would advance the disciplineof IR. Although our empirical focus is on Asia, we suggest someinsights that have more general relevance for non-Western IRT. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.     

东北亚各国经济合作开发与开放政策比较研究

东北亚各国的合作开发与开放政策研究不仅具有理论意义,而且具有更为重要的现实意义。东北亚各国合作开发与开放政策的共同点体现在东北亚各国都把区域合作与本国经济发展相结合,开展各国间的经济合作,并结合本国的产业结构调整,加快开发区、自由贸易区或新区建设,以此作为对外开放的窗口,同时各国政策又有着明显的不同之处,它反映了各国在国际社会中所处的地位不同,反映了本国的国情。     

The petroleum factor in Sino-Japanese relations: beyond energy cooperation

China and Japan used to have good energy cooperation beforeChina switched into a net oil importer in the mid-1990s, butthe recent years have witnessed an increasingly intensive competitionbetween the two countries over petroleum supplies. While manysaw such competition as inevitable with China's growing energydemands, the paper argues that the energy relationship betweenthe two countries was never separated from political and strategicconcerns, and heavily affected by the concern of ‘relativegains’, as suggested by the neorealists. Like the caseprior to the mid-1990s when the non-energy factors underpinnedthe Sino–Japanese energy cooperation, the key factorsthat prevented the two from continuing energy cooperation todayalso lay in political and strategic aspects. Being two regionalpowers in East Asia, China, and Japan need to recognize thefact that their lack of energy cooperation due to mutual politicaldistrust will not only impair their own energy security, butmay also have negative implications on regional stability.     

东南亚各国的粮食新政及其与中国的合作分析

2008年以来,全球粮食产量增长缓慢,需求不断增长,粮食危机席卷全球,如何保证粮食供应安全已成为东南亚国家面临的突出问题。为此,东南亚各国纷纷实施粮食新政,采取多种措施发展农业生产,确保粮食供给与粮食安全。世界范围内的粮食危机促进中国与东盟强化在粮食领域的合作。     

Trade unions and NGOs: the need for cooperation

The challenges posed by economic globalisation make it imperative that civil society organisations break down the barriers that have traditionally divided them, in order to ensure that the rights of those who are marginalised or vulnerable are kept firmly on the international agenda. In particular, globalisation brings fresh impetus to the need to forge alliances between the trade union movement and NGOs concerned with social and economic development. While there is plenty of evidence of successful cooperation, major problems, fears, suspicions, and at times hostilities remain between them. Some of these are substantial and sharp policy differences, but others are the consequence of colliding political or organisational cultures, prejudices, financial competition, and a mutual lack of understanding of respective roles and objectives. Debates surrounding the organisation of workers in the informal economy, including the ILO discussion in June 2002, provide a useful case study.     

The South China Sea security problem: towards regional cooperation

Asia Europe Journal - The year 2009 marked many dynamic developments in the South China Sea which attracted the attention of the international community. The main objective of this paper is to...     

The EU and China: policy perceptions of economic cooperation and competition

Asia Europe Journal - Both the EU and China agree on the importance of their bilateral economic relationship, but there are differences in how the relationship is perceived. The gap is reflected in...     

非洲国家的生物多样性保护政策

生物多样性对于非洲国家具有重要意义。20世纪60~70年代以来,为了应对生物多样性危机,非洲国家一方面积极地回应、参予并推动全球和区域生物多样性保护的努力与进程,积极加强国际合作;另一方面在国内采取了诸如制定生物多样性保护政策和行动计划、建立保护区、鼓励地方参予等措施来保护其生物资源。非洲国家的生物多样性保护政策是非洲各国经济发展战略的重要组成部分,其成败在很大程度上决定着非洲国家能否实现经济的可持续发展。     

Crisis and contract breach: The domestic and international determinants of expropriation

The Review of International Organizations - In this paper we address how external factors shape government decisions to break or uphold contracts, specifically focusing on how economic shocks and...