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Volume 15, Number 1, February 2003
Contributors
A New Direction: Launching Global Change, Peace and Security by Michael O'Keefe, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Joseph Camilleri
American Transparency Capitalism and Human Security: A Contradiction in Terms? by Stephen Gill
This essay advances a radical research agenda via exploration of two hypotheses concerning how public policy seems to be subordinated to providing maximum political and legal security for (some) owners of capital: (1) US supremacy is being reasserted in world order; and (2) expansion of US power is institutionalizing 'transparency' or panoptic capitalism. However, such developments coincide with a world of cascading economic and financial crises and growing inequality. In this context, there seems to be a globalizing contradiction between expansion of the power and disciplines of capital and provision of broad conditions of human security for the majority of the world's population.
The Paradoxes of Paramountcy: Regional Rivalries and the Dynamics of American Hegemony in East Asia by Mark Beeson, Mark T. Berger
It has become increasingly commonplace to describe the United States as hegemonic. And yet, despite America's dominant position at a number of levels strategic, political-economic and ideational, there are plainly limits to US hegemony. These limits and the enduring strengths of American hegemony are revealed quite clearly in East Asia. This paper critically assesses a number of theories of hegemony, and argues that the concept continues to provide a useful way of conceptualising America's evolving relationship with East Asia. Theories of hegemony can, with appropriate caveats, also help us to understand the limits to Chinese and Japanese power in the region; two countries that are routinely cited as potential hegemonic rivals.
Global Governance and Terrorism by Samuel M. Makinda
While the events of 11 September 2001 violated universally accepted rules, norms and institutions, US unilateralism since then has threatened the vitality of global governance. By weakening the rules, norms and institutions that constitute global governance, the George W. Bush administration has inadvertently created more room for future terrorism. What the United States and international society should do to undermine the bases of terrorism is to enhance international rules, norms and institutions. Global governance is the most effective antidote against terror.
The Politics of Regional Governance in the Mekong River Basin by Blake D. Ratner
The opportunities for the six states that share the Mekong River to benefit directly from its joint management are more limited and the risks to the livelihoods of downstream communities from development schemes more important than the historic rhetoric of Mekong development has implied. Changes in the broader political and economic context have sidelined the Mekong River Commission, the one institution charged with regional cooperation to manage the river. Improved regional governance in the decades to come depends upon efforts by many actors to raise the incentives for intergovernmental cooperation, expand civil society engagement, and strengthen mechanisms for cross-border accountability.
Communication Strengthening the ARF: Involving Defence Ministers by Ron Huisken
Book Reviews