Nicholas Khoo

Fear Factor: Northeast Asian Responses to China's Rise

Abstract In the face of Chinas seemingly inexorable rise, how fearful are the key actors in Northeast Asia? Relatedly, how fearful are they likely to be in the future? The academic debate on these questions is characterized by starkly contrasting answers. A typology of the literature is developed whereby analysts are categorized under the rubric of fear deflation, fear inflation, and fear qualification. Through an analysis of empirical survey data and developments during the 2000–2010 period, this article contends that the most appropriate way to characterize Northeast Asian responses to Chinas rise is via the lens of qualified fear. Through it, one can see that the states on Chinas periphery are – contrary to the arguments of fear deflaters – exhibiting qualified fear at how Chinas rising great powers capabilities are wielded. At the same time, levels of fear have not, and arguably will not, escalate to levels posited in the fear-inflation perspective.

Breaking the Ring of Encirclement: The Sino-Soviet Rift and Chinese Policy toward Vietnam, 1964–1968

The recent literature on Chinas relations with North Vietnam has given insufficient attention to the impact of the Sino-Soviet conflict. This article underscores the centrality of the Soviet factor in Beijings relations with Hanoi and the importance of triangular relations during the 19641968 period. The article points to the Sino-Soviet conflict as the main cause of the fissures in the Sino-North Vietnamese alliance that emerged more fully after the Vietnam War.

The ASEAN Security Community: A Misplaced Consensus1:

Is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) a security community? To many theorists and Southeast Asian specialists, the answer is a resounding yes. This article interrogates this consensus. The author contends that a greater sensitivity to empirical evidence and theoretical rigour leads to the conclusion that the claims of security community theorists are far less compelling than is claimed.

Enter the Vanguard State: Reinterpreting ASEAN’s Response to the South China Sea Issue

This article analyzes the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) interactions with China over the South China Sea issue since the end of the Cold War. A neorealist understanding of ASEAN’s international relations is advanced. This approach highlights the degree of security maximizing interest convergence between key ASEAN actors and an extra-regional actor, the United States, to explain the varying outcomes in the empirical record. Our approach is contrasted to alternatives in the existing literature that either overemphasize or underemphasize ASEAN’s autonomy in regional politics.

Revisiting the Termination of the Sino–Vietnamese Alliance, 1975–1979

This article argues that Vietnamese co-operation with Chinas principal enemy, the Soviet Union, was the necessary and sufficient cause for the termination of Chinas alliance with Vietnam in the second-half of the 1970s.

Reconceptualizing Asian International Relations

The rapid rise of China, since her opening up to the world in 1979, has certainly transformed the dynamics of global politics. In the almost four decades hence, for better or for worse, Asia has a ‘front-row seat’ to the impact and consequences of this phenomenal transformation of China’s political economy. China’s partici pation in this regional (and global) production web accelerated and deepened the economic integration in Asia. By 2000, scholarly attention began to focus then on the economic rise of China attempting to understand the Chinese model of fast-paced economic development, not unlike the literature relating to the rise of the Little Dragon (or Tiger) economies of Asia in the 1980s. As the rapid growth continued, China begins to more proactively participate in regional and global affairs—the so-called China’s peaceful ascendance—a cottage industry of research on what that ‘ascendance’ might mean to regional and world order as well as burgeoning research on ‘managing China’ and ‘socializing China’ into global norms. This attention shifted radically when the 2008 global financial crisis hit as China was thrust into a different plane in global and regional affairs. Concerns began to surface about the waning US power and hegemony in light of China’s growing clout then became the focus of scholarly attention—are we witnessing a power transition in Asia? What are the implications and consequences of this power transition? What do all these mean to rivalries and alliances in Asia? Is the prospect of major conflict in Asia unavoidable? What about the implications and impacts of the deepening regional economic integration to peace, security and stability in Asia? Are we actually witnessing an Asian century? These are just some of the many questions that have piqued scholarly interest and tickled their imagination. As Asia’s international relations become the focus of the world’s attention, it is timely to take stock and take another look at how extant theories, perspectives, frameworks and approaches can help us make sense of Asian international relations today. Furthermore, Asia’s international relations also provide us an opportunity to reassess the utility of our existing theories. Therefore, rather than impose a particular theoretical perspective, we ask our colleagues to reflect on how we can understand the international relations and politics of Asia vis-à-vis our current stock of theories as well as how Asia can help reassess our theories. In this special issue, we assembled four essays that take a stab at a Guest Editorial

“This program will not be a threat to them”: Ballistic Missile Defense and US relations with Russia and China

Although the Obama Administration has differed from its predecessor in a number of respects, on the specific issue of Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), there is a striking continuity. The Obama Administration has remained committed to the BMD project, even as it has modified the schedule of deployments and prioritized different systems from the Bush Administration. Significantly, this has led to Chinese and Russian balancing in the nuclear sphere. As a result, there is evidence of a security dilemma-type dynamics in US relations with China and Russia. At present, there is no study that analyzes Russian and Chinese hard internal balancing against the USA in the sphere of missile defense during the Obama Administration. This article fills this gap.