In different ways both academics and politicians are asking similar questions about the future of the Asia-Pacific: Does it still make sense to talk of narchy” and egemony” a time when co-operative systems are developing? What are the implications in any such trends led by a group of small states, especially those of ASEAN if these are stable states with complementary assets and interests and legitimate governments committed to economic development? International relations theory, especially in the security field, is built on a narrower empirical foundation. Some of the traditional theories (realism) make a universal claim that power is both the means and end of international politics. Others address questions relevant only to the Great Powers. Other theory, such as neo-liberalism, argues that International co-operation, meaning co-ordinated and joint initiatives between actors, has the potential to provide a new basis for international security. To illustrate the range of security and economic interactions in the Asia-Pacific region, this thesis examines the causal influence of the various interactions between economics and security in the region in general, and on ASEAN and Taiwan cooperation in particular. This thesis therefore seeks to highlight some of the important issues concerning international co-operation between weak states in a debate of both theoretical and practical significance. Furthermore, expanding the case of ASEAN-Taiwan cooperation in the Asia-Pacific context helps to provide an analysis of the independent and dependent variables, and allows for greater generalisability of results. However, since mid-1997, the ASEAN system in Southeast Asia, which used to be characterised as the most co-operative and highly developed regional system and was very valuable for theory-building and testing, has become less certain as the Asian economic crisis has weakened its spirit of co-operation. Does it signal the impractical concept of egional solutions to regional problems”? Or does it mark the beginning of egional awareness” that draws regional states together? The answer still depends heavily on the policies and initiatives of major individual players in international co-operation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:322677 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Chen, Wei-Hwa |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/109584/ |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds