Strategic Analysis

Dispatches from the South China Sea: Navigating to Common Ground

James Borton in Dispatches from the South China Sea primarily dwells on the interactions between humans and the environment in the South China Sea. Through his journalistic acumen, Borton intricately embarks upon anthropogenic catastrophes such as coral reef destruction, overfishing, illegal annihilation of sovereign territories, evolving environmental refugee crisis (both forced and motivated environmental migration), over-exploitation of resources by China to mention a few.

Balochistan: In the Crosshairs of History

Balochistan is one of the most restive areas in Pakistan that has endured systematic and extraordinary suppression at the hands of the Pakistani State and its security forces. The Baloch form a distinct ethno-national identity, and dream of creating a Baloch nation-state, but this runs contrary to the overarching Pakistani identity and State, attracting their fury. The Baloch have struggled for decades for international recognition of their plight but have hardly received any support.

Eastwards Ho? India’s Relations with the Indo-Pacific

Eastwards Ho? India’s Relations with the Indo-Pacific edited by E. Sridharan comprising 15 essays by renowned experts on Asian geopolitics, seeks to place India on the strategic map of the evolving Indo-Pacific region as an economic and geopolitical power. At the outset, the editor provides a succinct overview of economic integration in Asia, particularly of China with its neighbours reflected in a massive increase in bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs).

Ordering Violence: Explaining Armed Group-State Relations from Conflict to Cooperation

In 2022, the ceasefire between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim–Isak-Muivah (NSCN–IM) entered its 25th year. While the ceasefire has greatly reduced violence between the group and security forces, it has by no means ended it.

Becoming Asian: Asianness as the Counter-Power Among Japanese Migrants

The complexity of connectivity is reflected in the migrant’s socialization process. Whilst the socialization process in transnational spaces often leads to further ethnic divisiveness, Japanese migrants who had opportunities to encounter Asian Others gradually embraced an overarching Asian identity in Dublin. The shared liminal status of migrants in the local society contributed to the forging of an emotional pan-Asian solidarity and acted as a form of migrant identity against hegemonic whiteness.

Asianism as Many Altogether: Cosmopolitanism and the Asian Political Imaginary

In this article, I seek to understand the pre-European diversity of Asia as a recoverable ideal for a new Asianism, one that takes cosmopolitanism, plurality, and the concrete presence of the Other seriously, as modes of ‘reimperializing’ Asia based on Asian traditions of moral and cultural imagination.

Neoliberalism in Asia: Under the Lens of Land Acquisition for Development in India and China

Through the lens of land acquisition by the State for development in India and China, an extensively and compulsorily strong State intervention has been witnessed. It pushes forward asymmetric neoliberal reforms, draws value surpluses from land development, and frequently uses mandatory coercive measures, when necessary, to accelerate the economic development process. The current reform has not substantially revised, but in fact, has sustained this model of development.

Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP): Thailand’s Emic Approach to Governance and Development as Evidence of an Asian Value-Oriented Inclusive Leadership Management Philosophy

Thailand has been at the core of the Asian Values debate since the 1992 World Conference on Human Rights. Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) is a concept developed by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej to consolidate his approach to governance and development. Integrating values borrowed from Theravada Buddhism such as benevolence, emphasis on the middle way and on the public good. This article explores the development of SEP focussing on the role of values and leadership styles.

Otto Federico von Feigenblatt , Malcolm Cooper , Phillip Pardo
July 2022
Strategic Analysis

Asianism – The Indian Sub-Text

Going by the economic growth patterns of China, India, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries with corresponding decline in the Western economic heft, it was often claimed that the 21st century will be the Asian Century. This might be in doubt due to the pandemic and geopolitical contestation between China and the US, where new faultlines are being drawn. Moreover, India and China being in a potential conflict zone, the dream of the Asian Century might have receded even further.

Sanpo-Yoshi and Corporate Social Responsibility in Japan

Discussion on Asia and Asian values is conspicuously absent from existing research in global capitalist society. In order to foster critical debates on ‘Asianism Retold’, we explore how Asian traditional value has been integrated into the contemporary business system. By examining Japan’s traditional values—Sanpo-yoshi, this article explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Asian values.

Yoshiki Shinohara , Rebecca Chunghee Kim
July 2022
Strategic Analysis