CIAO DATE: 07/2009
Volume: 42, Issue: 3
September 2007
New Security Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific: Extending Regionalism from Southeast to Northeast Asia
Christopher Hughes
This article explains the emerging security dynamics in the Asia-Pacific in the context of the project to establish an "Asian Community". Although the model of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been constrained by a post-colonial attachment to sovereignty, new processes of domestic democratisation, taking in new members and dealing with non-traditional security threats have led to an acceptance of the need to deepen its social and political pillars. The real test for this project, however, will be whether it can be extended to Northeast Asia, where relations between states are still characterised by traditional power-balancing and rising nationalism.
China's Foreign Policy Comes of Age (PDF)
Michael Yahuda
Although China has acquired new weight in world affairs, its foreign policy is driven primarily by domestic considerations. This is true of China's approach to international norms, where it largely resists the case for humanitarian intervention as accepted by most of the international community. The Chinese government still adheres to the doctrine of non-interference, albeit with some flexibility, when its prestige as a responsible great power may be at stake. Its management of regional security issues is conducted with a wary eye to the intense nationalism evident among the educated young at home. China's deepening economic interdependence with the outside world is raising new problems for China and its main trading partners as their respective societies become more deeply engaged with each other.
Opportunities and Limits of EU-China Security Cooperation
May-Britt Stumbaum
In its European Security Strategy, the European Union defined the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a strategic partner and envisaged comprehensive cooperation with it, including in the security sector. China and the EU often use the same terms, but the connotation of these terms differs due to fundamentally different security concerns. This article critically assesses the possibilities, prospects and difficulties from a European point of view of pursuing Sino-European cooperation in security matters. It concludes that given basic differences in perception, cooperation is likely to be successful in such fields as environmental disasters and pandemics, but will remain limited in such areas as non-proliferation, the fight against terrorism and energy security.
The International Politics of the Chinese Arms Embargo Issue
Nicola Casarini
The Chinese arms embargo issue has gone beyond Sino-European bilateral relations to become a matter of significance - and concern - for East Asian and US policymakers. Thus, an eventual solution depends not only on the interplay between EU and Chinese policymakers' interests and considerations, but is now interconnected with China's domestic developments and regional posture, the security concerns of China's neighbours (especially Japan and Taiwan), the evolution of US-China relations and transatlantic relations.
China's Energy Policy: from Self-sufficiency to Energy Efficiency
François Godement
China's energy policy is traditionally based on self-sufficiency. While energy bottlenecks have often been cited as a limitation to China's economic growth, China has been successful at producing energy using its domestic coal - albeit putting a strain on transport and producing a high degree of pollution. Aggressively after 2001, China has started to search for external resources, both to supply its voracious appetite for oil and to insure its economy against possible geopolitical disruptions - including the threat of sanctions. This has given Chinese companies a life of their own, making them large international actors. Today, China is both saddled with new responsibilities for the developing countries in which it owns sizeable exploitation rights, and influenced by a new thinking on energy security, based on the idea of improving energy efficiency before developing resources. This offers opportunities for the West - and Japan - in cooperating with China, a huge energy importing country, to lessen the dominance of producers, create business opportunities for energy efficiency equipment, and also to cap CO2 and other emissions.
New Trends in China's Foreign Investment Strategy
Lorenzo Sasso
China now holds the world's largest foreign exchange reserves mainly thanks to dynamic export activities. In order to invest and manage these foreign exchange reserves, the Chinese government recently announced the constitution of a new State Foreign Exchange Investment Company (SFEIC) aimed at improving the yield on them. This new investment vehicle will face multiple challenges ranging from showing solid financial gains to establishing effective rules for corporate governance that guarantee transparency in company management. In addition to the legal aspects, numerous economic and political implications will arise from this new government-controlled tool.
Fostering Economic Growth through a "European" Debt (PDF)
Maria Teresa Salvemini
Economic growth in the EU area is one of the European Union's tasks and the Union's budget should be used to finance actions aimed at development. It is hard to imagine that an increase in budget revenues or a significant reduction in spending in other areas can provide the resources for this purpose. The proposal put forward is to allow for debt financing of investment spending and to downgrade the current constitutional status of the rule regarding a balanced budget. A "European" debt, it is suggested, could strengthen the international role of the euro. If such a reform were not to find consensus within the Union as a whole, it could, alternatively, be adopted in the Eurogroup.
In Search of a European Dimension in the UN Security Council
Bart Kerremans, Edith Drieskens, Daniele Marchesi
Both Belgium and Italy want to give their current mandate in the UN Security Council a European dimension. Yet, the conclusion that they are natural partners in doing so may be premature. Before focussing on Belgian and Italian objectives, the article presents the current state of the ongoing reform processes in Brussels and New York and of EU actorness in the Security Council more generally, as both are critical for estimating the prospects for a stronger European profile. It concludes by discussing the possibilities and constraints that the non-permanent members face within this framework.
Italy's Growing Burden of Choice in Security Policy
Roberto Menotti
NATO, the EU, and the UN have been the cornerstones of Italy's foreign policy since WWII: although they continue to provide a point of reference, these institutions are undergoing major changes that reflect - and partly create - a very unpredictable international environment. The evolving security agenda, choices made by key allies (especially the United States), and domestic political forces, are putting Italian decision-makers under pressure. There is a serious problem of resource constraints while the country is still unwilling to make clear-cut choices based on unavoidable tradeoffs. The past few years witnessed a mix of continuity and change due to the political orientations of successive governments under these challenging circumstances.
Cutting-Edge Knowledge of China's International Relations
Xu Xin
Review of: New directions in the study of China's foreign policy, edited by Alastair Iain Johnston and Robert S. Ross, Stanford University Press, 2006
Stories of China: Italian Perspectives
Claudia Astarita
Review of: Il secolo cinese : storie di uomini, città e denaro dalla fabbrica del mondo, Federico Rampini, Mondadori, 2006 and La Cina alla conquista del mondo : la società, la politica, l'economia e le relazioni internazionali, Maria Weber, Newton & Compton, 2006
Writing Bush's Legacy Today
Erik Jones
Review of: The one percent doctrine : deep inside America's pursuit of its enemies since 9/11, Ron Suskind, Simon & Schuster, 2006 and State of denial, Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 2006
Wait a Minute - is That an Empire?
Mario Del Pero
Review of: Among empires : American ascendancy and its predecessors, Charles S. Maier, Harvard University Press, 2006
Anti-Americanism and the Formation of the New European Identity
Emiliano Alessandri
Review of: Uncouth nation : why Europe dislikes America, Andrei S. Markovits, Princeton University Press, 2007
The United Nations: Between Shadow and Light
Natalino Ronzitti
Review of: The parliament of man : the past, present, and future of the United Nations, Paul Kennedy, Random House, 2006