National Security, Statecentricity, and Governance in East Asia

Description

This book assesses the extent to which an emphasis on national security and prioritization of state interests has dominated governance policy-making in Northeast and Southeast Asia, at the expense of human security, human development, and human rights. The findings are that in many cases, there are embedded structural obstacles to achieving human-centered governance objectives in the region. These relate to the role of the military, historical authoritarian legacies, and new authoritarian trends. Contributors examine not only the most obvious instances of military domination of governance in the region (North Korea with its “Military First” philosophy, Thailand since the 2014 coup, and Myanmar with its long history of military rule), but also less well known examples of the influence of conflict legacies upon governance in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Laos, as well as the emergence of new reservoirs of power and resources for the forces of authoritarianism. Front Matter ....Pages i-x State-Centric Challenges to Human-Centered Governance (Brendan Howe)....Pages 1-14 Kimism in Sŏn’gun Korea: The Third Generation of the Kim Dynasty (Daniel A. Pinkston)....Pages 15-35 In the Land of Democratic Rollback: Military Authoritarianism and Monarchical Primacy in Thailand (Paul Chambers)....Pages 37-60 Governance and Human Insecurity in Myanmar (Alistair D.B. Cook)....Pages 61-80 The Politics of Survival in Cambodia: National Security for Undemocratic Control (Sorpong Peou)....Pages 81-105 Neo-authoritarian Peace in Timor-Leste (Yuji Uesugi)....Pages 107-126 More Growth, Less Freedom? Charting Development Pathways in Lao PDR (Kearrin Sims)....Pages 127-149 Conclusion (Brendan Howe)....Pages 151-156 Back Matter ....Pages 157-160