Bhubhindar Singh – författare

While US-centred bilateralism and ASEAN-led multilateralism have largely dominated the post-Cold War regional security architecture in the Indo-Pacific, increasing doubts about their effectiveness have resulted in countries turning to alternative forms of cooperation, such as minilateral arrangements. Compared to multilateral groupings, minilateral platforms are smaller in size, as well as more exclusive, flexible and functional. Both China and the US have contributed to minilateral initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. In the case of the former, there is the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism—involving China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam—established in 2015. In the case of the latter, there has been a revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in 2017—involving the US, Australia, Japan and India. This book examines the rise of these arrangements, their challenges and opportunities, as well as their impact on the extant regional security architecture, including on the ASEAN-led multilateral order.A valuable guide for students and policy-makers looking to understand the nature and development of minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region.

While US-centred bilateralism and ASEAN-led multilateralism have largely dominated the post-Cold War regional security architecture in the Indo-Pacific, increasing doubts about their effectiveness have resulted in countries turning to alternative forms of cooperation, such as minilateral arrangements. Compared to multilateral groupings, minilateral platforms are smaller in size, as well as more exclusive, flexible and functional. Both China and the US have contributed to minilateral initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. In the case of the former, there is the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism—involving China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam—established in 2015. In the case of the latter, there has been a revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in 2017—involving the US, Australia, Japan and India. This book examines the rise of these arrangements, their challenges and opportunities, as well as their impact on the extant regional security architecture, including on the ASEAN-led multilateral order.A valuable guide for students and policy-makers looking to understand the nature and development of minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region.

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a significant change in Japanese security policy, as Japan’s security identity has shifted from a peace state, to an international state. In this book, Bhubhindar Singh argues that from the 1990s onwards, the Japanese security policymaking elite recognized that its earlier approach to security policy which was influenced by the peace-state security identity was no longer appropriate. Rather, as a member of the international community, Japan had to carve out a responsible role in regional and international security affairs, which required greater emphasis on the role of the military in Japan’s security policy. To explore the change in Japan’s security identity and its associated security behaviour, this book contrasts the three areas that define and shape Japanese security policy: Japan’s conception (or definition) of national security; the country’s contribution, in military terms, to regional and international affairs; and the changes to the security policy regime responsible for the security policy formulation. Further, it seeks to challenge the dominant realist interpretation of Japanese security policy by adopting an identity-based approach and showing how whilst realist accounts correctly capture the trajectory of Japanese post-Cold War security policy, they fail to explain the underlying causes of the change in Japanese security behaviour in the post-Cold War period.This book is an important addition to the current literature on Japanese security policy, and will be of great use to students and scholars interested in Japanese and Asian politics, as well as security studies and international relations more broadly.

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a significant change in Japanese security policy, as Japan’s security identity has shifted from a peace state, to an international state. In this book, Bhubhindar Singh argues that from the 1990s onwards, the Japanese security policymaking elite recognized that its earlier approach to security policy which was influenced by the peace-state security identity was no longer appropriate. Rather, as a member of the international community, Japan had to carve out a responsible role in regional and international security affairs, which required greater emphasis on the role of the military in Japan’s security policy. To explore the change in Japan’s security identity and its associated security behaviour, this book contrasts the three areas that define and shape Japanese security policy: Japan’s conception (or definition) of national security; the country’s contribution, in military terms, to regional and international affairs; and the changes to the security policy regime responsible for the security policy formulation. Further, it seeks to challenge the dominant realist interpretation of Japanese security policy by adopting an identity-based approach and showing how whilst realist accounts correctly capture the trajectory of Japanese post-Cold War security policy, they fail to explain the underlying causes of the change in Japanese security behaviour in the post-Cold War period.This book is an important addition to the current literature on Japanese security policy, and will be of great use to students and scholars interested in Japanese and Asian politics, as well as security studies and international relations more broadly.

Systematically analyses the impact of external military crises on Japanese security policy expansion in the post-Cold War period.Focuses on the widening of Japan’s security posture in external security affairs and investigates the causes of this critical changeIdentifies the external military crisis as a critical determinant of change in Japanese security policyUnpacks the deep structures within the Japanese decision-making processes, especially during and after military crisesExamines five key military crises in detail: the 1990-1 Persian Gulf War; the 1994 North Korean Nuclear Crisis; the 1996 Taiwan Straits Crisis, the 1998 Taepodong Crisis; and 2001 September 11 attacks that led to the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan and IraqDraws on over 70 interviews the author has conducted with officials, former officials, and academics in universities and think tanks in Japan, the United States, South Korea and Singapore, including officials who were directly involved in the crisis decision-making processThis book is a detailed study of the role that external military crises played in the development and growth of Japanese security policies in the period following the end of the Cold War. This evolution can be seen in the widened role of the Self-Defence Force (SDF) in shaping Japan’s security priorities, as well as its proactive contribution to regional/ international security. Focusing on four key case studies – international peacekeeping in 1992, regional defence in 1997-99, global missions in 2003-05, and collective self-defence in 2014-15 – the author argues that the Japanese security policymaking elite achieved security policy expansion by utilizing external military crises as policy windows, inflating and deflating threat elements to circumvent the constraints and justify the implementation of security policy initiatives.