Choice Reviews Online · 2003 · 243 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesArea StudiesPolitical ScienceInternational SecurityRegional StudiesSecurity StudiesGeopoliticsNational SecurityRegional Security ArrangementsRegional Security StudiesStrategic StabilityGeopolitical SecurityGeopolitics Of SecurityInternational Security RegimesRegional PoliticsRegional Power StructuresRegional Security AnalysisRegional Security InstitutionsUnstable Region
Asia continues to face serious security challenges such as tensions on the Korean peninsula, Taiwan Strait, and Kashmir, nuclear proliferation, and the rise of China, yet some scholars argue the region is more stable and prosperous than in the post‑independence era. The volume examines how the security environment in Asia has evolved since September 11, 2001. Alagappa constructs an analytical framework that integrates regional politics and security dynamics, exploring pathways to order, managing specific security issues, and defining the nature of Asia’s security order.
More than a decade has passed since the end of the Cold War, but Asia still faces serious security challenges. These include the current security environment in the Korean peninsula, across the Taiwan Strait, and over Kashmir, the danger of nuclear and missile proliferation, and the concern with the rising power of China and with American dominance. Indeed, some experts see Asia as a dangerous and unstable place. Alagappa disagrees, maintaining that Asia is a far more stable, predictable, and prosperous region than it was in the postindependence period. This volume also takes account of the changed security environment in Asia since September 11, 2001. Unlike many areas-studies approaches, Alagappa's work makes a strong case for taking regional politics and security dynamics seriously from both theoretical and empirical approaches. The first part of this volume develops an analytical framework for the study of order; the salience of the different pathways to order is examined in the second part; the third investigates the management of specific security issues; and the final part discusses the nature of security order in Asia.