Asia's Security.

AuthorPearson, Mark
PositionBook review

ASIA'S SECURITY

Author: Robert Ayson

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2015, 336pp, 29.99 [pounds sterling].

At a time when Asian security issues make the headlines almost daily, New Zealand strategic studies expert Robert Ayson's latest book, Asia's Security, provides a valuable guide for those looking to make sense of it all. This is not another guided tour of Asia's hotspots, territorial claims or weapons programmes (all of which can be found elsewhere). Instead, the author provides a crisp, systematic and readable analysis of what really constitutes security in Asia and what (if anything) can be done to manage it better.

Ayson's initial challenge is to define what security means in the contemporary Asian context. He does so in both a broad and narrow sense, providing analytical clarity to the subsequent discussion. At the broad end, he follows the theorist Arnold Wolfers in defining security as 'the absence of a threat to acquired values', but then refines it to focus on threats from organised violence, as viewed through three contrasting lenses--region-wide, state-centred and individual/social. While noting the difficulties involved in adopting wider, increasingly popular definitions which encompass economic and human security, he nonetheless gives each its own chapter, where the relationship to core security issues is drawn out (including with reference to the role of free trade agreements such as the TPP). Particular attention is given to 'ripple effects' by which security problems in one area spread to affect a wider group of countries.

The discussion unfolds through three groups of chapters. The first assesses various factors in Asia's security equation--the great powers, economic interdependence, new military technologies, territorial disputes and nationalism. The second group explores the role of domestic security issues and transnational challenges, such as terrorism and climate change. The three concluding chapters examine the region's response to security issues, through outside intervention, regional co-operation frameworks such as ASEAN and alliances respectively--all of which are judged wanting in some respect.

Ayson brings a solid historical perspective to bear throughout the book. This is central to his contention that Asia is in the midst of a period of relative peace, at least in comparison with the conflicts of the decolonisation and Cold War eras. He carefully examines major trends, such as the reduction...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT