The balance of great-power influence in contemporary Southeast Asia

Ciorciari, John D.

doi:10.1093/irap/lcn017

Cited by 37 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As David Shambaugh (2005) stated forthrightly, one does not have to be a realist in order to recognize that China, just as the United States before it, seeks regional preeminence. Nor should one be astonished to learn that neighbors of a large and strong country have security concerns, or that they try to alleviate these concerns by a variety of not mutually exclusive behavior including conciliating, hedging, hiding, binding, diverting, free riding, and transcending (Goh 2007/08; Bobrow 2008; Ciorciari 2009) in addition to bandwagoning, buck‐passing and balancing. Indeed, as Waltz (2000:38–9) reminded us: “that states try different strategies of survival is hardly surprising.” It would, however, be asking “balancing” to do too much of the analytic heavy lifting if one were to include in this concept policies that seek cooperation, accommodation and resistance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…that China, just as the United States before it, seeks regional preeminence. Nor should one be astonished to learn that neighbors of a large and strong country have security concerns, or that they try to alleviate these concerns by a variety of not mutually exclusive behavior including conciliating, hedging, hiding, binding, diverting, free riding, and transcending (Goh 2007 ⁄ 08;Bobrow 2008;Ciorciari 2009) in addition to bandwagoning, buck-passing and balancing. Indeed, as Waltz (2000:38-9) reminded us: ''that states try different strategies of survival is hardly surprising.''…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Odd Thing Happened on the Way to Balancing: East Asian States’ Reactions to China’s Rise

Chan

2010

International Studies Review

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Are East Asian states reacting to China’s rise according to balance‐of‐power expectations? This review discusses the pertinent debate and presents overtime data germane to this question. It raises several issues of theoretical argumentation and historical purview pertaining to this debate, and concludes that the conduct of China’s neighbors thus far is anomalous from the traditional balance‐of‐power perspective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Odd Thing Happened on the Way to Balancing: East Asian States’ Reactions to China’s Rise

Chan

2010

International Studies Review

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“…This momentum has characterized the ASEAN-driven ARF and set out strategic orientations for the ASEAN Security Community by 2015 into "common", not collective, security. John David Ciorciari (2009) is convinced that since the end of the Cold War, the balance of power has transformed into the balance of influence, not in military, but in economic, institutional, and ideational dimensions. ASEAN has succeeded in shaping an order in which no single great power can easily exercise unwanted dominance (Ciorciari, 2009, pp.…”

Section: A Search For a Plausible Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Acharya (2005) argued that, as the region began to record exceptional rates of economic growth, trade and investment cooperation reinforced the impetus toward closer relations (Acharya, 2005, p. 98). John D. Ciorciari (2009) claimed that ASEAN states have generally sought to steer a middle path in economic affairs between great powers to create a web of economic interdependence so that powerful external actors develop clear stakes in regional peace and stability (Ciorciari, 2009, pp. 157-196).…”

Section: A Search For a Plausible Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

ASEAN’s Role and Potential in East Asian Integration: Theoretical Approaches Revisited

Quyet¹

2015

UCPA

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Theoretical interpretation of the role and potential of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) remains controversial. Three salient theoretical approaches, neo-realist, neo-liberal, and domestic factors, have provided crucial explanations of ASEAN's weaknesses. These attributes, however, lack essential analytical tools to interpret ASEAN's role and potential in creating regionalism and regionalization in East Asia in the post-Cold War era.Given both theoretical and operational levels, constructivism is a predominant approach to portray the role and potential of ASEAN, particularly the role it plays in creating an increasingly connected web of cooperation and in managing the regional frameworks and arrangements with its founding principles and norms. While the endeavour on regionalization driven by the ASEAN Way and principles is impressive, the 2008-adopted Charter has marked a crucial step in ASEAN's institutional and political development for regionalism. The marginalization of the ASEAN Way, however, remains a default norm. Thus, much needs to be done to bring about strong political will and commitment per se toward the realization of the ASEAN Community and toward East Asian regionalism.Keywords: theoretical approaches, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Way, regionalization, regionalism Explaining the role and potential of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) remains controversial theoretically. Neo-realists tend to focus on security and treat the balance of power as a key determinant of regional affairs and to be skeptical about the regional security management role played by ASEAN and about prospects for peaceful change. Neo-liberal theorists tend to prioritize their position on economic and institutional evolution and put their claims on ASEAN-driven regional projects characterized by low institutionalized frameworks and arrangements, thus leading to lacking high commitment required by institutions per se. While the two theoretical approaches are the major theoretical attributes to explain weaknesses of ASEAN in East Asian integration, domestic factors play a crucial role in capturing the understanding of interplay and interrelations between the impact of regionalism/regionalization and state behavior. Unlike the three above salient approaches, constructivist advocates focus their attention on ASEAN's ideational factors like norms, ideas, identity, and other cultural attributes through social-driven processes which contribute a great deal to creating an increasingly connected web of cooperation and which helps in turn enhance interaction of state actors for regional cooperation.

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“…ASEAN involves regional great powers in regional strategic discourses and makes them compete with each other in order to avoid one state's gaining preponderant influence in Southeast Asia. In particular, it adopts complex measures for balancing a great power's influence, including military, economic, institutional, and ideational, by inviting other great powers to become involved in the region's political, economic, and diplomatic matters (Ciorciari 2009). This indirect balancing strategy enables ASEAN members to secure alternative sources of goods, investment, and aid, and thereby reduce the potential risk of vulnerability posed by a pre-eminent state.…”

Section: Diplomatic Goals and Strategies Of The Four Partiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Institution-Building in East Asia

Yoshimatsu

2014

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The balance of great-power influence in contemporary Southeast Asia

Cited by 37 publications

References 14 publications

An Odd Thing Happened on the Way to Balancing: East Asian States’ Reactions to China’s Rise

An Odd Thing Happened on the Way to Balancing: East Asian States’ Reactions to China’s Rise

ASEAN’s Role and Potential in East Asian Integration: Theoretical Approaches Revisited

Comparing Institution-Building in East Asia

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