The dynamics of Northeast Asia have traditionally been considered primarily in military and hard security terms, however relations among the states of Northeast Asia are far more comprehensible when the interactions between economics and security are considered simultaneously. This book examines the conditions under which economics and security interact with each other in mutually shaping ways, and these interactions pose key empirical questions, the answers to which have important lessons for international relations more broadly beyond Northeast Asia.

The dynamics of Northeast Asia have traditionally been considered primarily in military and hard security terms or alternatively along their economic dimensions. This book argues that relations among the states of Northeast Asia are far more comprehensible when the mutually shaping interactions between economics and security are considered simultaneously. It examines these interactions and some of the key empirical questions they pose, the answers to which have important lessons for international relations beyond Northeast Asia. Contributors to this volume analyze how the states of the region define their ‘security’, and how bilateral relations in hard security issues and economic linkages play out among Japan, China and the two Koreas. Further, the chapters interrogate how different patterns of techno-nationalist development affect regional security ties, and the extent to which closer economic connections enhance or detract from a nation’s self-perceived security. The book concludes by discussing scenarios for the future and the conditions that will shape relations between economics and security in the region. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian politics, Asian economics, security studies and political economy.

Emphasizing human and environmental security over traditional power politics, Mel Gurtov offers a provocative reinterpretation of security in the Asia-Pacific region. The author questions a number of prevailing assumptions, such as the China threat, a U.S.-centered balance of power, and the necessity of a greater Japanese security role. He argues instead for a cooperative framework for future security that focuses on people's basic needs, is sensitive to Asian nationalism, and gradually replaces military power with developmental priorities. With its concise appraisals of the security policies of the United States, China, Japan, the two Koreas, and the ASEAN countries, this work will be a valued reference for policymakers, scholars, and students alike.

This book aims to distil from both sets of developments before and after the Asian crisis of 1997 a generic business model for East Asia in the context of the new economy. Globalisation, information communication technology, knowledge-based economy, deregulation and emerging new competition delineate and set the challenges for the new economy. More rapid technological change in the new globalised economy means greater creative destruction and tick of premature obsolescence to companies and workers of capital, job skills and earning power.