U.S. led Western Democracies have imposed comprehensive sanctions on the PRC government by ceasing high-level exchanges politically and canceling bilateral cooperative agreements economically in response to the PRC¡¦s 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square demonstrators. At that time, former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping brought up a ¡§24 character¡¨ strategy for China¡¦s foreign and security policy: ¡§observe calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and never claim leadership.¡¨ PRC did not gradually disengage from the U.S. led isolation until the U.S. government resumed high-level exchanges in 1993. The end of the Cold War meant that China was the major beneficiary of greatly reduced superpower penetration, and this strengthened the interregional dynamics of the Northeast and Southeast Asia. After PRC disengaged from diplomatic isolation made by U.S. - led Western Democracies and began to have the power to influence regional security affairs, a China-centered East Asian regional security complex was born. From lack of confidence in constructing in East Asian regional security complex in the mid 1990s, China became active and could rule the RSC after late 1990s. The goal of PRC¡¦s security strategy is to form an anti-U.S.-led East Asia military alliance to protect its national security interest. In the existing regional security complexes, the framework of ASEAN Regional Forum was separated into ¡§ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership¡¨ and ¡§non ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership¡¨ camps in 2003. China established the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2001 and allowed one of the axis of evil states- Iran to participate in the Organization in 2005. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization will develop into an anti-U.S.-led military alliance under China¡¦s manipulation. In 2003, the U.S. government urged China to play a responsible stakeholder role in the Six-Party Talks instead of being a draft- making secretary. The PRC¡¦s participation in constructing East Asia regional security complexes is analogous to a state that clothed neo-realism but harangued regional security interdependence. On the one hand it reprehends the U.S. East Asia military alliance as an out-of-date cold war thinking. On the other hand, PRC¡¦s military expenditure from 1996 to 2006 shows an annual growth of more than 10 percent. The mutual security in East Asian regional security complexes are still being constructed. China participates in The Six-Party Talks and ASEAN Regional Forum while sometimes it will depend on particular circumstances to make certain contributions, but rules the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with its full strength to keep it operate as China¡¦s political will. The aim of this thesis is to examine the changing characteristics of the regional security complexes in East Asia. The thesis focuses on the foreign policies and strategies of PRC¡¦s participation in those security complexes from mid 1990s. Finally, this thesis will to explore what will impact on the East Asian regional security complex when China participates in and try to construct it, and who will construct whom.

Magistro darbo problema yra susijusi su situacija, kuomet nedidelė valstybių tarpusavio priklausomybė ir nenoras riboti savo suverenitetą lemia globalių aplinkosauginių režimų neefektyvumą. Tuo tarpu regioninis bendradarbiavimas, sąlygojamas valstybių tarpusavio priklausomybės, leidžia efektyviau spręsti kylančias problemas. Regionai, siejami iniciatyvų įveikti specifines ekologines grėsmes, gali būti ypatingai suinteresuoti bendradarbiauti ir kurti ekologinio saugumo kompleksus. Todėl bendradarbiavimas ekologinėje srityje gali skatinti tolesnę regiono integraciją. Tyrimo objektu darbe laikomas dėl ekologinių grėsmių vykstantis regioninis bendradarbiavimas bei institucionalizuotos jo formos. Darbe keliamas klausimas, kokiomis sąlygomis ekologinės grėsmės skatina regioninį bendradarbiavimą? Taip pat keliamas šalutinis klausimas, kokie faktoriai riboja ekologinio bendradarbiavimo procesus? Tiesioginio ryšio tarp ekologinių grėsmių ir regioninio bendradarbiavimo nėra užfiksuota, o tai leidžia teigti, jog ekologinės grėsmės gali skatinti regioninį bendradarbiavimą tik egzistuojant tam tikroms sąlygoms, kurių identifikavimas ir analizė yra pagrindinis darbo tikslas. Darbe keliama prielaida, kad ekologinės grėsmės skatina regioninį bendradarbiavimą, egzistuojant trims būtinoms sąlygoms: - ekologinės grėsmės regiono valstybių yra suvokiamos kaip gyvybinės; - bendradarbiavimas ekologinėje srityje sukuria potencialą regiono ekonominei plėtrai; - regionas patiria išorės jėgų įtaką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Relatively weak interdependence of the states and unwillingness to limit one’s sovereignty determines inefficiency of global environmental regimes. This fact forms the main problem of the MA thesis. The MA thesis is based on the presumption that regional cooperation which is determined by the interdependence of the states allows to resolve current issues easier. Certain regions which have intentions to cope with common environmental threats may be especially interested in cooperation and establishment of environmental security complexes. Therefore, cooperation may encourage the further integration. The key question of the MA thesis is when and in what circumstances the environmental threats encourage regional integration? The additional question is what factors restrict the processes of regional cooperation on the basis of the environmental threats? The analytical parts encompass the analysis of cases of Nile and Mekong regions. The object of the research is the regional cooperation and its institutionalized forms, as a consequence of the environmental threats. The aim of the analytical parts of the thesis is to examine whether the environmental threats encourage the regional cooperation on three main conditions: - the environmental threats are regarded as existential issues by the states of the certain region; - cooperation in the environmental field creates an opportunity for the economic development of states; - the regions are influenced by the external actors, which... [to full text]

This study is conducted with the purpose to unfold hidden sides of the EU – Russian energy cooperation and to shed a light on possible reasons for existing problems that have rarely been voiced before. This study provides an alternative view on the role of the Baltic Sea region in the overall EU – Russian energy dialogue and its current situation. In this research the historical observation of the energy interdependence regime development is examined and the crucial turning points in the energy interdependence like the EU enlargement 2004, the gas cut offs 2006 and 2009, and crises 2014 are reconsidered. The energy security policies of the EU and Russia are analyzed by adopting the realist approach and applied to the case of the Baltic Sea region. Furthermore, based on the regional complex security theory and interdependence theory, the way how interstate gas relations in the Baltic Sea region affect the EU – Russian interdependence is discussed.

The main objective of this diploma thesis is to analyze the nature of obstacles to the regional approach to Afghanistan through the lens of the Regional Security Complex Theory. I will focus on studying security dynamics within and among three security complexes surrounding Afghanistan, to see how these dynamics affect their interaction with the latter. Prospects of any regional cooperation on Afghanistan are hampered by security dynamics within these complexes whereby primary traditional political-military threats are perceived by the complex states as more threatening than the mostly transnational threats stemming from unstable Afghanitan. Particularly the Indo-Pakistani rivalry and to a lesser extent the Saudi-Iranian rivalry represent major obstacles as it is reflected also in their engagement in Afghanistan. On the other hand, weak Central Asia states are linked to Afghanistan security dynamics by mostly transnational threats and ethnic affinities but are generally too weak to extend their security dynamics beyond their respective complex. The thesis also seeks to analyze the possibility of Afghanistan's external transformation in terms of its inclusion into the South Asia complex and based on now stronger security interdependence among the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India triangle. This assumption could...