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2. US-Japan Development Cooperation for Stability and Prosperity in the Pacific Islands Region
- Author:
- Hideyuki Shiozawa
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Mr. Hideyuki Shiozawa, Senior Program Officer, Pacific Island Nations Program Team, Ocean Policy Research Institute, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, accounts for regional complexities and Japan-US synergies as he outlines possible structures for Japan-US trilateral development cooperation with Pacific Island partners.
- Topic:
- Development, Political stability, Foreign Assistance, and Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Japan, Asia, North America, United States of America, and Oceania
3. China is Not Conducting Debt Trap Diplomacy in the Pacific--At Least Not Yet
- Author:
- Jonathan Pryke
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- In an atmosphere of heightened geostrategic competition, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has raised questions about the risk of debt problems in less-developed countries. Such risks are especially worrying for the small and fragile economies of the Pacific. A close look at the evidence suggests that China has not been engaged in debt-trap diplomacy in the Pacific, at least not so far. Nonetheless, if future Chinese lending continues on a business-as-usual basis, serious problems of debt sustainability will arise, and concerns about quality and corruption are valid.There have been recent signs that both China and Pacific Island governments recognize the need for reform. China needs to adopt formal lending rules similar to those of the multilateral development banks, providing more favorable terms to countries at greater risk of debt distress. Alternative approaches might include replacing or partially replacing EXIM loans with the interest-free loans and grants that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce already provides.
- Topic:
- Debt, Development, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Asia-Pacific
4. Flexible Implementation: A Key to Asia's Transformation
- Author:
- Luke Simon Jordan and Katerina Koinis
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Despite the region's economic growth over the last few decades, countries across Asia still face the complex challenge of structural transformation. Low-income economies must build formal industrial and service sectors from agricultural and informal bases; middle-income economies must move up the value chain; and high-income economies must continually generate new capabilities at the frontier of innovation.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
5. Pacific Island Nations: How Viable Are Their Economies?
- Author:
- Francis X. Hezel
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The Pacific is receiving a fair share of attention today from many quarters. Even as the parade of economic consultants continues, others are coming to explore concerns that have more recently claimed the attention of western nations. These concerns cover a broad range, including food security, global warming, elimination of illegal drug traffic in the region, prevention of AIDS or even drug-resistant tuberculosis, protection from spouse abuse, and public-school improvement. These are legitimate interests, but none of them addresses the central concern that vexes each of the island nations of Micronesia, and perhaps the islands elsewhere in the Pacific: How will the country grow its economy to ensure its survival in the future?
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Australia, and Island
6. Russia in the Asia-Pacific: Between Integration and Geopolitics
- Author:
- Paul Richardson
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- For the first time in its history, Russia this year assumed the leadership of a major Asia- Pacific forum—APEC. In September the organization's annual summit will be held in Vladivostok and through this congress Russia hopes to demonstrate to the world, and its own citizens, that the country is once again a power in both Europe and Asia. It is a bold vision, which is bound to Russia's national development strategy and Great Power aspirations. As one Russian diplomat told this author, if Russia really becomes involved in Asia it could change the country and also the world.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Development, International Affairs, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Australia/Pacific
7. Asia's Energy Future: Regional Dynamics and Global Implications
- Author:
- Kang Wu and Fereidun Fesharaki
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Energy security ranks as one of the highest-priority issues in Asia and the Pacific. The East and South Asia region is the fastest-growing oil consumer in the world, and because this region has such a small percentage of the world's oil reserves, it is the most highly dependent on oil imports of any world region. In the future, Asia will become even more dependent on imports as its energy needs expand with changing life styles and overall economic growth. Asia's increasing energy needs have important implications for energy security throughout the world, and particularly in the United States. Like Asia, the United States is a large and growing importer of crude oil and petroleum products. It is also becoming a direct competitor with the East Asian economies for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). This volume is intended to provide Asians and Americans with the factual information they need for clear understanding, informed policy dialogue, and effective cooperation on issues related to energy security. The United States and Asia have much in common in terms of their basic energy situation. Both regions have enormous hydrocarbon reserves in the form of coal, but both must import huge quantities of liquid hydrocarbons in the forms of oil and natural gas. The United States has an economy and a life style highly dependent upon imported energy, and increasingly, so does Asia. The environmental implications of energy use are of growing concern in both regions. Both share a common stake in an assured supply of oil and natural gas, in price stability in international energy markets, in efficient and sustainable use of oil and gas products, and in the development of technologies and fuel alternatives that can alleviate energy security and environmental concerns.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States and Asia
8. Korea's Growth Performance: Past and Future
- Author:
- Marcus Noland
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- South Korea is arguably the premier development success story of the last half century. For 47 years starting in 1963, the economy averaged 7 percent real growth annually, and experienced only two years of economic contraction: 1980 after the second oil shock and the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, and 1998 at the nadir of the Asian financial crisis. At the start of that period South Korea had a per capita income lower than that of Mozambique or Bolivia; today it is richer than Spain or New Zealand, and was the first Asian and first non-G7 country to host a summit of the G20, the unofficial steering committee of the world economy.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Asia, South Korea, Spain, Mozambique, New Zealand, and Bolivia
9. India and Indonesia: Renewing Asia's Collective Destiny
- Author:
- Sourabh Gupta
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Civilizational, cultural, and geographic neighbors, India and Indonesia share striking commonalities in their modern historical trajectories. In both societies, European powers, the Dutch and the British, benefited from the decline of tired Islamic land empires to graft colonial modes of exploitation that progressed fitfully from coast to hinterland to interior. Following proto-nationalist revolt s, the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the Java War of 1825-30, both the Dutch and the British skillfully engineered a buffer of indigenous elite collaborators. This strategy succeeded to such an extent that their faraway possessions were governed by less than two hundred and a thousand expatriate administrators, respectively.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Post Colonialism, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia, India, and Asia
10. Executive Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Role of Legislatures in New Democracies and Under Electoral Authoritarianism
- Author:
- William Case
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- In an influential study, Fish and Kroenig argue that "overarching institutional designs" (i.e., presidential, parliamentary, and dual systems) tell us less about the prospects of a new democracy than does the particular strength of the legislature. Specifically, executives are best checked where legislatures are powerful, generating horizontal accountability. In addition, ordinary citizens are better informed by the robust party systems that strong legislatures support, fostering vertical accountability. In comparing Freedom House scores with their Parliamentary Powers Index (PPI), Fish and Kroenig show clear correlations, leading them to conclude that democracies are made strong by legislatures that are empowered. In this monograph, this thesis is tested in five country cases in Southeast Asia: the Philippines and Indonesia, both new democracies, and Malaysia, Cambodia, and Singapore, cases of electoral authoritarianism. Analysis uncovers that in the new democracies, though their legislatures may be rated as powerful, members are geared less to checking the executive than to sharing in state patronage. In addition, although the legislature is evaluated as weak under electoral authoritarianism, it features an opposition that, with little access to patronage, remains committed to exposing executive abuses. What is more, when the executive operates a regime type that lacks the full legitimacy gained through general elections, he or she grows more receptive to at least mild legislative scrutiny. Contrary to Fish and Kroenig, then, this study concludes that the executive is held more accountable by legislatures under electoral authoritarianism than in new democracies. But rather than leading to a transition to democratic politics, this accountability strengthens authoritarian rule.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Malaysia, Asia, Cambodia, and Singapore
11. The State of the Pro-Democracy Movement in Authoritarian Burma
- Author:
- Kyaw Yin Hlaing
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- When Burma gained independence in 1948, its regime was a part of the phenomenon, which Samuel Huntington called the second wave of democracies. Although Burma's parliamentary democracy was by no means perfect, opposition parties were allowed to exist and elections were held regularly. The coup staged by the Revolutionary Council, which was led by the military on March 2, 1962, brought an end to this brief period of electoral democracy in Burma.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Development, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Burma
12. The Politics of Environmental Policy with a Himalayan Example
- Author:
- Piers Blaikie and Joshua Muldavin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- How we arrive at knowledge—and how we draw on knowledge to make policy—have been the subject of vigorous debate and analysis. Simple models of expertise and action are gradually yielding to a more complex vision of how truth speaks to power and power talks back. The Himalayan region—where scientists, statesmen, and citizens confront a unique set of environmental challenges and political legacies—provides a powerful case study. For more than a century, it was believed that over-use by local farmers and pastoralists threatened fragile mountain and river environments. Beginning in the colonial era and continuing into the present, governments have strictly curtailed traditional land-use practices. In the 1980s, scholars began to question the science on which those restrictive laws were based. But new science has not, in most cases, led to new policy. This disconnect inspires questions about the nature of both science and policy, their influence on each other, and whether each could benefit from greater openness to the insights of people who fall outside the narrow roles of expert and politician.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Australia/Pacific, and Southeast Asia
13. Tourism in a 'Borderless' World: The Singapore Experience
- Author:
- T.C. Chang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The development of tourist destinations that transcend national borders, first envisioned in the 1950s, gained momentum in the 1990s. Whether facilitated by large regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or bilateral agreements, countries—especially smaller ones— have worked to identify and leverage their neighbor's strengths. Singapore, for example, adopted a national tourism plan based on the concept of "borrowed attractiveness." It has compensated for its limited natural resources and high costs by collaborating with Indonesia and Malaysia, which contribute cheaper labor and land in exchange for infrastructure, financing, and expertise. The city-state also aggressively sells its tourism expertise overseas and aspires to be Asia's tourism hub. But Singapore's experience demonstrates that regional tourism, while diversifying tourism development opportunities, can also perpetuate inequities between wealthier and poorer collaborators and present serious challenges to businesses operating in unfamiliar settings.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Australia/Pacific, Singapore, and Southeast Asia