Brendan M. Howe - Böcker

East Asia is a region deeply affected by conflict. Colonial, ideological, and national wars have left their scars and legacies on regional, international, and national governance. Yet East Asian post-conflict development experiences have been viewed as remarkably successful. The three largest economies of East Asia, Japan, China, and South Korea, have all experienced dramatic growth but immediately prior to their periods of expansion, all experienced the devastating impacts of international conflicts and/or civil upheaval. These post-conflict development ’success’ stories do not, however, tell the whole tale. Other states in East Asia and in particular certain regions within some of these states, while apparently emerging from similar conflictual backgrounds, have experienced far less positive transitions. This volume critically assesses measurements of success in East Asian post-conflict development from a human-centered perspective. This involves a major re-evaluation of accepted accounts of domestic governance and international relations in East Asia from both a comparative and inter-disciplinary viewpoint. Case study rich, this volume provides policy prescriptions for East Asian donors and actors in an effort to provide Asian solutions for Asian problems.

East Asia is a region deeply affected by conflict. Colonial, ideological, and national wars have left their scars and legacies on regional, international, and national governance. Yet East Asian post-conflict development experiences have been viewed as remarkably successful. The three largest economies of East Asia, Japan, China, and South Korea, have all experienced dramatic growth but immediately prior to their periods of expansion, all experienced the devastating impacts of international conflicts and/or civil upheaval. These post-conflict development ’success’ stories do not, however, tell the whole tale. Other states in East Asia and in particular certain regions within some of these states, while apparently emerging from similar conflictual backgrounds, have experienced far less positive transitions. This volume critically assesses measurements of success in East Asian post-conflict development from a human-centered perspective. This involves a major re-evaluation of accepted accounts of domestic governance and international relations in East Asia from both a comparative and inter-disciplinary viewpoint. Case study rich, this volume provides policy prescriptions for East Asian donors and actors in an effort to provide Asian solutions for Asian problems.

The four countries represented in this volume are East Asian middle powers with strategic constraints upon their traditional security policymaking. These middle powers have pursued diplomatic activities raising their international profile or footprint, and advancing their national interest, through normative foreign policy and humanitarian channels, including peacebuilding, development, and human security. In each case, therefore, there is a happy coincidence of the national interest of the middle power expressed though certain diplomatic “niches,” and benefit to regional partners in peace and development. The Niche Diplomacy of Asian Middle Powers seeks to uncover the unique contributions of Asian middle powers to the furtherance of humanitarian and human-related policymaking, including the promotion of peace, development and democracy long associated with middle-powerism, with particular emphasis on their involvement in the Southeast Asian subregion. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have made Southeast Asia a focus for their attempts to get more “bang for their foreign policy buck” (or Yen or Won) and have adopted similar normatively justified variations on the theme of “new Southern policies.” Meanwhile, Thailand looks to play a variety of middle power roles within a region where it is a major actor.

This book evaluates UN performance in ensuring good governance in Cambodia and Timor-Leste from a human-centred standpoint.