The United Nations, Indo-Pacific and Korean Peninsula focuses on the United Nations (UN) and its frameworks to examine the power politics on the two of the world’s more politically sensitive and geo-strategically crucial regions of the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific. This book provides answers to broader questions that are relevant to the global emerging peace architecture. The book is divided into three parts: global, Indo-Pacific and the Korean Peninsula. The first part analyses the competing world views of the U.S, China, Japan, and Korea and the evolvement of UN debates on global and regional security, with special emphasis on the Indo-Pacific and the Korean Peninsula. The second part concerns major bilateral or multilateral security issues facing Indo-Pacific countries and their UN debates in this regard. In particular, with new developments in the Indo-Pacific, such as the Quad process involving the Australia-India-Japan-United States and an anticipation expansion of the Group of Seven (G-7), chapters analyse how these mechanisms expand their focus within the scope of Indo-Pacific power politics. Part three focuses on the UN centered debates on two Koreas and their strategic fallouts at regional and global levels. Examining the security order evolving around the politics of the Indo-Pacific regions and Korean Peninsula and analysing the relevance of the UN and its mechanisms, this book will be of interest to researchers studying International Relations, Security Studies, Asian Studies, in particular Korean Studies and the Indo-Pacific.

This book assesses the strategic linkages that the Korean Peninsula shares with the Indo-Pacific and provides a succinct picture of issues which will shape the trajectory of the Korean Peninsula in the future. This book analyses how critical actors such as the United States, China, Russia and Japan are caught in a tightly balanced power struggle affecting the Korean Peninsula. It shows how these countries are exerting control over the Korean Peninsula while also holding on to their status as critical actors in the broader Indo-Pacific. The prospects of peace, stability and unity in the Korean Peninsula and the impact of this on Indo-Pacific power politics are explored as well as the contending and competing interests in the region. Chapters present country-specific positions and approaches as case studies and review the impact of power politics on stakeholders’ relationships in the Indo-Pacific. The book also argues that the Korean Peninsula and the issue of denuclearization is of primary importance to any direction an Indo-Pacific Partnership may take. Bringing together scholars, journalists and ex-diplomats, this book will be of interest to academics working in the field of international relations, foreign policy, security studies and Asian studies as well as audiences interested

The purpose of this book is to introduce readers to INDOPACOM, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in a region covering approximately 50 percent of the Earth from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. INDOPACOM has not received much attention in Japan compared to USFJ or the US Seventh Fleet. This book shines a spotlight on INDOPACOM in an effort to promote an understanding of its various aspects. The mission of INDOPACOM is to protect U.S. territory, people, and national interests. However, it also includes protection of the countries within its geographic scope that are U.S. allies and security partners. INDOPACOM and its precursor Pacific Command, established in 1947, have always been major contributors to the peace and safety of Japan in the post-World War II era. In view of the importance of U.S. interests in Northeast Asia, the region also has two Sub-Unified Combatant Commands called United States Forces Japan (USFJ) and United States Forces Korea (USFK). Each of these organizations strives to strengthen the relationship with the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Republic of Korea armed forces. Together, the United States, Japan and our partners around the globe will continue to safeguard the rules-based security order that has underpinned peace and prosperity for decades.

Contemporary China: A New Superpower? is a unique textbook introducing the complexity and diversity of China’s society, politics, economics, and international affairs, and the multiple ways in which their dynamics corroborate to simultaneously construct and challenge perceptions of China. Structured thematically in three sections – History, Society and Culture; Politics and Economy; and International Relations – this textbook provides answers to one of the most frequently asked general questions in relation to China. Will it become a new superpower and equal the international power and influence of the United States? Chapters written by some of the most recognized commentators and researchers of China cover a broad range of topics and offer an in-depth analysis of issues in contemporary China, such as the impact of the Tiananmen 1989 events, the economic development of the country, the environmental and demographic crises, social control and propaganda, and the role of China in the region and the world. Introducing students comprehensively to the domestic context and international affairs of China, the book will be particularly useful for undergraduate-level courses in Asian Studies and courses on the history, politics, and international affairs of China and Chinese Studies.

Southeast Asia-North Korea Relations reveals the genesis and evolution of Southeast Asian countries’ diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) by unpacking the underlying political, economic, and security connections. In this book, chapters analyse in detail the individual bilateral linkages of the ten states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the DPRK that vary in intensity and visibility. Bringing together an international group of experts, including, uniquely, authors representing every individual ASEAN state, this edited volume dissects the parameters of the bilateral relationships as well as the multi-faceted regional-level interactions and the roles of certain key external actors, especially South Korea and China. This book is a path-breaking addition to the study and analysis of regional inter-linkages in Asia and will be of interest to students and scholars working on North Korean studies, Southeast Asia, including ASEAN, and also on Korean Peninsula topics as well as international relations and security studies, especially considering the role of “small” states.

This book offers the first systematic theorisation of transnational public spheres from non-Western, spatial, and infrastructural perspectives. The current era is characterised by transnational challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, and financial crises, that cannot be adequately addressed by national public spheres. Public spheres, defined as arenas of collective communication and action, are the cornerstone of any people-centred system of governance. This book puts forward a transnational public sphere theory and focuses on spatial, infrastructural, and non-Western perspectives, thus adding to the public sphere theory and practice at both national and transnational levels. The author offers a new conceptual construct, “the right to space”, as a way of transnationalising the theory and addressing its efficacy issues. Providing conceptual clarity on the public–private distinction, this book examines the historical roots of the public sphere in both Asia and Europe, establishes the methodological and ontological foundations for a theory of transnational publics, and analyses contemporary empirical instances of transnational publics in both Asia and the West. This transnationalisation is crucial now that authoritarianism is on the rise and democracy is in decline worldwide. A timely addition to the literature, this book will be of interest to researchers in international relations, political science, political theory, sociology, media and communication, cultural and literary studies, and Asian studies.

This edited volume explores the past, present, and future of the Korean Peninsula, with special focus on South Korea, by connecting developments in politics with those in international relations and diplomacy. The book focuses on how South Korea’s politics and international relations have evolved since the founding of the First Republic in 1948, with particular attention to the period surrounding the 2022 presidential election. The authors provide new insights into Korean politics, including South Korean electoral reform and relations with China and Japan, North Korea’s nuclear capacity, and North–South diplomacy. Beginning with a commentary by Colin Crooks, Britain’s current Ambassador to South Korea and former Ambassador to North Korea, on recent British foreign policy changes and UK–Korea relations, this book will appeal to scholars and students of politics, international relations, diplomacy, and Korean Studies.

This book examines the security arrangements of the Persian Gulf, with a particular focus on Iran's security plans since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and follows it during Hassan Rouhani presidency. The book provides responses to the questions regarding the security plans of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis a vis the Persian Gulf and why the plans of the Rouhani government in this regard have not been welcomed by the countries of the region. It also analyses the security approach to establish comprehensive and lasting security in this region. Highlighting the importance of Iran's plans during Rouhani's presidency, the author indicates that it provides a codified and clear solution for achieving security in the region from the viewpoint of Iran. These plans have come closer to the logic of realism and has moved away from the idealism of the past plans. Seeking to create a balance against other actors in the region, Iran's plans are not welcomed by the region`s countries, because it seeks to bring other actors such as Russia and China to the Persian Gulf in order to balance against the United States. The book designs a security model for sustainable security in the Persian Gulf and how to achieve a model for regional dialogue. Comparing the transition to realistic logic in relation to other Iranian plans regarding the Persian Gulf, this book offers an innovative analysis of Iran's plans for the security of the Persian Gulf. It will be of interest to researchers in political science, International Relations, political geography, regional studies, security studies and Middle East Studies.

Against the current historical context that, the United States is in the process of forging and implementing a grand Indo-Pacific strategy, and that the U.S. has shown its intention to align its strategies toward other regions of the world with its strategic interest in Asia together, this study aims to explore and analyse the critical factors, issues, and mechanisms which would most likely be able to affect the relations among major powers and entities in Europe as well as in the Indo-Pacific region, and to see how possibly the main actors in these two regions could jointly shape a different model of global order, based on their management of and involvements in the core issues identified in this project. The next ten to twenty years will likely be a critical period to see whether a different global system from the current one can be forged, and what it might look like.