Amy Freedman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479866304
- eISBN:
- 9781479826308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479866304.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines three examples of nontraditional security problems and how individual Southeast Asian countries have attempted to address them. The chapter also looks at the role that the ...
More
This chapter examines three examples of nontraditional security problems and how individual Southeast Asian countries have attempted to address them. The chapter also looks at the role that the United States and China are playing in the region, and asks what the prospects might be for greater cooperation in coordinating policies and responses to these common threats so as to better ensure reliable access to food, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect citizens in the region from deadly pathogens. There have been some regional attempts to create more cooperative frameworks for addressing these needs, but these efforts have not yet played a significant role in reshaping policies. One explanation for why cooperation is weak is that there is a lack of leadership within regional organizations in spurring greater action to tackle these issues. The leadership vacuum stems from countries’ domestic politics. Weak cooperation on these issues signals poor chances for regional coordination on other issues such as uniting against Chinese maritime claims around the nine-dash line, and has bearing on partnerships for the United States should the “pivot” become more than rhetoric.Less
This chapter examines three examples of nontraditional security problems and how individual Southeast Asian countries have attempted to address them. The chapter also looks at the role that the United States and China are playing in the region, and asks what the prospects might be for greater cooperation in coordinating policies and responses to these common threats so as to better ensure reliable access to food, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect citizens in the region from deadly pathogens. There have been some regional attempts to create more cooperative frameworks for addressing these needs, but these efforts have not yet played a significant role in reshaping policies. One explanation for why cooperation is weak is that there is a lack of leadership within regional organizations in spurring greater action to tackle these issues. The leadership vacuum stems from countries’ domestic politics. Weak cooperation on these issues signals poor chances for regional coordination on other issues such as uniting against Chinese maritime claims around the nine-dash line, and has bearing on partnerships for the United States should the “pivot” become more than rhetoric.
