Richard Stubbs

What ever happened to the East Asian Developmental State? The unfolding debate

Abstract The Developmental State (DS) has been central to East Asias rapid economic development over the last three decades. This analysis reviews the origins of the concept of the DS, the broader theoretical battles that provide the context in which the concept has been used, and the conditions that facilitated the emergence of the DS itself. The way in which the changing events in East Asia have influenced analyses of the DS will also be addressed with special attention paid to the onset of globalization, the end of the Cold War, and the impact of the Asian financial crisis. Finally, an assessment is undertaken of analyses of the DS that have appeared in the pages of The Pacific Review over the last twenty years.

Competing conceptions of economic regionalism: APEC versus EAEC in the Asia pacific

Abstract Dramatic economic growth in the Asia Pacific has given rise to a both a scholarly and policy oriented debate about the most appropriate organizational form within which any dialogue over the nature economic policy coordination in the region might take place. The most visible exercise in regional economic dialogue over the last few years has been via the evolution of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). APECs increasing international profile does not, however, pass uncontested. Some states, and most vocally Malaysia, exhibit a preference for a more ‘Asian’ and less ‘Pacific’ form of regional economic dialogue via the putative East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC). This paper examines APEC and the EAEC as exemplars of two competing conceptions of regional economic cooperation. The paper demonstrates that enhanced economic dialogue in the Asia Pacific cannot be understood simply in rationalistic, utility maximizing terms. Questions of politics, culture and identity are also shaping up to...

Signing on to liberalization: AFTA and the politics of regional economic cooperation

From the inception of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 to 1991 economic cooperation among its members was virtually non-existent. However, in January 1992 the leaders of the member states agreed to work towards an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Following an uncertain initial phase the leaders rededicated themselves in 1995 to an accelerated implementation of the AFTA agreement. The key to the change in policy and to the relatively successful implementation of AFTA was the shift in the domestic balance of power in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand from economic nationalists to liberal reformers. This occurred as the result of a series of recessions and booms that affected the economies of the region from the early 1980s onwards. Also crucial to the successful implementation of AFTA was the distinctive approach to regional cooperation that has developed among the ASEAN members.

Is ASEAN powerful? Neo-realist versus constructivist approaches to power in Southeast Asia 1

Abstract This paper asks: ‘is ASEAN powerful?’ The argument is made that there is a divide over this question between two broad groups of scholars who are referred to as ‘neo-realists’ (including realists) and ‘constructivists’. Focusing attention on this question is useful because it helps to bring into view three, not always explicit, points of argument between constructivists and neo-realists in their assessments of ASEAN. First, the two groups draw different empirically based conclusions about ASEANs efficacy in East Asian affairs. Neo-realists are generally sceptical about the Associations role in the region because they view it, along with multilateral organizations more generally, as peripheral to great power politicking, what they see as the real stuff and substance of international affairs. A second, conceptual, point of argument is over understandings of power. For neo-realists, power is frequently used interchangeably with force and coercion. Scholars influenced by social constructivist ideas offer a challenge to this equation of power and dominance on the grounds that power is neither necessarily negative-sum nor limited to conflictual situations. Third, we suggest that closely related arguments are marshalled by both sides in debates over ASEANs future role and organizational structure. Neo-realists argue that a shift to a more rules-based institutional form is in order, while constructivists place their emphasis on identity building.

The ASEAN alternative? Ideas, institutions and the challenge to ‘global’ governance

Abstract Over the last 40 years ASEAN has developed a set of goals and norms with regard to the conduct of regional and international relations that provide an alternative paradigm to the dominant contemporary Western liberal approach to ‘global’ governance. ASEANs alternative paradigm is rooted in Asias cultures and the regions colonial and Cold War experiences. Using an historical institutionalist approach, the analysis details the paradigms central features – the importance of neutrality; sovereignty and territorial integrity; the peaceful settlement of disputes; informal, non-confrontational negotiations; and the promotion of domestic stability and social harmony – which together underscore the importance of state autonomy and non-interference in the affairs of other states. The paradigms influence in global affairs has increased markedly in recent years, most notably as the ASEAN-China linkage has matured and China has given its strong support to ASEANs approach to the conduct of international relations. This turn of events suggests that the ASEAN paradigm presents a significant challenge to Western hopes for a common approach to ‘global’ governance.

Political economy and the changing global order

The end of the Cold War, the rapid growth of the Asia-Pacific powers, the arrival of NAFTA and the European Union, and the new GATT Accord signal an unprecedented pace of change in the global economic order. Bringing together thirty-three specially commissioned chapters by leading scholars in politics, economics, and international relations, Political Economy and the Changing Global Order provides an authoritative introduction to the theory and practice of international economic relations in the post-Cold War world. The book ranges widely, covering developments at global and regional levels, key issues and trends, and the changing policies of major states, as well as presenting a broad range of theoretical perspectives. Particular emphasis is given to the many and varied connections between the international and domestic, and political and economic, dimensions of global change. A distinguished cast of contributors brings a breadth of expertise to a coherent, accessible collection, specifically designed for use as a course text.

China, regional institution-building and the China–ASEAN Free Trade Area

ABSTRACT This article uses the concepts of critical juncture and feedback effects in historical institutionalism to examine Chinas role in promoting a China–ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA). The first section examines the specific combination of structural factors and key intervention from Chinese policymakers that triggered the CAFTA process. The second section outlines the details of the CAFTA negotiations, analyzing the feedback effects that shaped the path and eventual outcomes of the CAFTA Agreement. Attention is given to Chinas initiation of a programme of ‘early harvest’ agreements that were added to the CAFTA Agreement Framework in order to help persuade the hesitant states in the region to enlist in the China-led conception of Asian regionalism.

Theorizing Southeast Asian Relations: an introduction

Abstract In the introduction, the editors discuss the emergence of a new body of literature on Southeast Asias regional relations that is both theoretically informed and stimulating. One element of this literature features a constructivist challenge to realism, traditionally the dominant perspective on Southeast Asian International Relations. Constructivist writings have helped to broaden the understanding of Southeast Asias regional order by capturing its ideational determinants (norms and identity), the agency role of local actors, and the possibility of transformation through socialization and institution building. But constructivism itself has been challenged by other perspectives, including neo-liberal, English School and critical approaches. The essays in this special issue of The Pacific Review capture this emerging debate. The editors argue that the articles in this special issue are a good indicator of the theoretical pluralism that marks the study of Southeast Asias regional relations today. Southeast Asian studies need not be dominated by either realism or constructivism, but can accommodate a diversity that vastly enriches our understanding of regional conflict and order.

APEC's Dilemmas: Institution-Building Around the Pacific Rim

THE ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) forum has made considerable progress since it was formed at a ministerial meeting in Canberra, Australia, in 1989. Indeed, it has chalked up more successes in its first few years than even its founders and most ardent proponents had anticipated. For example, APEC combines in one organization a diverse group of economies including the biggest, and some of the most dynamic, in the world; it brings together, at its annual summit meetings, an impressive array of the worlds leaders; and it has established the ambitious, if distant, goal of open economies for all its developed members by 2010 and its developing members by 2020. As a result the APEC process has garnered a good deal of public attention and engendered a momentum for establishing greater economic cooperation around the Pacific Rim. Yet the more successful APEC has become and the more progress it makes in moving the region down the road towards greater economic liberalization and cooperation, the more dilemmas it seems to face. These dilemmas are essentially caused by different and often competing conceptions of regionalism and regionalization around the Pacific Rim and are rooted in the different cultures, historical experiences and forms of capitalism of the various APEC member economies. At one time it appeared as if these competing views of economic regionalization were represented by APEC on the one hand and by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamads proposal for an East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) on the other.2 However, it is now increasingly apparent that the competing conceptions of the region and how regional relations should evolve are to be found

The East Asian developmental state and the Great Recession: evolving contesting coalitions

This analysis explores the impact of the Great Recession on the evolution of East Asias developmental states. An analytical framework, which emphasizes the political tug-o-war between the coalition of groups that support the developmental state and the coalition of those who advocate for neo-liberal reforms to state structures and state policies, is used to plot the fortunes of the developmental state since the 1980s and the advent of globalization in East Asia. The elements of the Great Recession that influenced this battle between the two sets of collations are examined and the shift in the influence of the coalition supporting the developmental state structures and policies are assessed.