Strategic Cultures and Security Policies in the Asia-Pacific


Book Description

This book shows how one of the most powerful tools of security studies—strategic culture—illuminates the origins and implications of the Asia-Pacific region’s difficult issues, from the rise of China and the American pivot, to the shifting calculations of many other actors. Strategic culture sometimes challenges and always enriches prevailing neo-realist presumptions about the region. It provides a bridge between material and ideational explanations of state behavior and helps capture the tension between neoclassical realist and constructivist approaches. The case studies in this book survey the role of strategic culture in the behaviors of Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and the United States. They show the contrast between structural expectations and cultural predispositions, as realist geopolitical security threats and opportunities interact with domestic elite and popular interpretation of historical narratives and distinctive political-military cultures to influence security policies. The concluding chapter devotes special attention to methodological issues at the heart of strategic cultural studies, as well as how culture may impact the potential for future conflict or cooperation in the region. The result is a body of work that helps deepen our understanding of strategic cultures in the Asia-Pacific in comparative perspective and enrich security studies. This bookw as published as a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy.




Special Issue


Book Description




Strategic Cultures in the Asia-Pacific Region


Book Description

In this book a multinational and inter-disciplinary group of contributors have written original essays seeking to provide the first profile of the strategic cultures of the states of the Asia-Pacific region. Strategic culture consists of the traditional cultural, historical, political and societal factors that help shape the defence policies and strategic behaviour of countries. As such, it is a necessary element in understanding the security issues of this changing and increasingly significant region in world politics. In addition to contributing to a better understanding of the security problems and prospects of the Asia-Pacific, the book gives additional empirical flesh to the developing concept of strategic culture and also relates it to the prospects for conflict management in the region, as well as military strategy.




Strategic Asia 2016-17


Book Description

Strategic Asia 2016-17 examines how the region's major powers view international politics and the use of military force. In each chapter, a leading expert analyzes the ideological and historical sources of a country's strategic culture, how strategic culture informs the thinking of the country's policymakers, and how these understandings lead to decisions about the pursuit of strategic objectives and national power.







Strategy in Asia


Book Description

“Helps to articulate those pressing strategic questions necessary in formulating―and executing―American strategy in this critical part of the world.” ―Military Review Some of the United States’ greatest challenges over the coming decades are likely to emanate from the Asia-Pacific region, with China’s and India’s rise and the persistence of militant Islam in parts of South and Central Asia, and the threat of nuclear proliferation continuing in fits and starts. If America is to meet these challenges comprehensively, strategists will have to learn more about Asia, and Asian scholars, policymakers, and analysts will need to understand better the enduring and timeless principles of strategy. Based on the premise therefore that the increasing strategic weight of the Asia-Pacific region warrants greater attention from both scholars and practitioners alike, Strategy in Asia: The Past, Present, and Future of Regional Security aims to marry the fields of strategic studies and Asian studies in order to help academics and practitioners to begin addressing these challenges. The book uses the lenses of geography, culture, and economics to examine in depth the strategic context that Asia presents to the major nations of the region—including the U.S. as a Pacific nation—and the strategic scenarios that may well play out in the region in the future. Specific attention is paid to Asia as a warfighting environment, and to the warfighting traditions and current postures of the major nations. “Opens windows into the key lenses of strategic studies namely, history, geography and politics, and secondarily, culture and economics.” —Asian Politics and Policy




Strategic Asia 2013-14


Book Description

The 2013-14 Strategic Asia volume examines the role of nuclear weapons in the grand strategies of key Asian states and assesses the impact of these capabilities—both established and latent—on regional and international stability. In each chapter, a leading expert explores the historical, strategic, and political factors that drive a country's calculations vis-a-vis nuclear weapons and draws implications for American interests.




Impact of Strategic Culture on U.S. Policies for East Asia


Book Description

The author, using examples from the Asia-Pacific region, illustrates the need for regional and, at times, subregional approaches to collective security. He concludes that treating these relationships from a global perspective, and thus ignoring local norms, can cause unnecessary friction. He provides a set of policy recommendations to achieve U.S. goals in the region.




China and Strategic Culture


Book Description

Culture influences the way strategists in a particular country think about matters of war and peace. Culture is especially influential in a country like China, with an ancient civilization and strategic tradition dating back thousands of years. The author of this monograph, Dr. Andrew Scobell, examines the impact of strategic culture on 21st century China. He contends that the People




Asia-Pacific Strategic Relations


Book Description

This comprehensive 2002 book is an overview of security issues in the Asia-Pacific. It is also an argument for a strategy that promises to achieve greater regional stability. It argues that current approaches by policy-makers increase the likelihood of conflict. Instead, it proposes that a strategy of 'convergent security' be adopted to build a more enduring and peaceful regional security framework. A concise survey of key approaches to regional security politics, it presents a vast selection of empirical discussion, both historical and current. Assessing the outlook for the three powers most likely to vie for regional dominance - the United States, China and Japan - the book also reviews the prospects for other secondary powers, including Korea and Taiwan and analyses the role of Australia and the ASEAN nations of Southeast Asia. Unique, accessible, authoritative and broad-ranging survey designed for a wide body of analysts and students of contemporary Asian politics and strategy.