CSCAP Regional Security Outlook 2008 – Security Through Cooperation
Brian Job, Liu Faculty Affiliate, UBC
Erin Williams
December 9, 2008
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Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) Regional Security Outlook 2008: Security through Cooperation
The security crises of 2008 should serve as a wake-up call for an Asia Pacific multilateralism that has grown accustomed to low performance expectations and a leisurely pace of change. This was one of the major themes emphasized in the 2008 CSCAP Regional Security Outlook (CRSO), edited by CIR Director Brian Job and CSCAP Canada Administrator Erin Williams. The volume’s first four chapters address recent crises that have hit the region hard. These include local manifestations of the global food crisis, devastating natural disasters, and fossil fuel shortages that have pushed many energy-dependent Southeast Asian states to embrace the nuclear energy option. Together, these chapters paint a picture of what 21st century insecurities will look like; the scarcity of vital resources, the fragility of global systems to sudden shocks, and the extent to which states and issues areas are interconnected will increasingly shape regional security agendas, which will in turn demand a level and type of international coordination and cooperation that are without precedent.
The volume’s second half deals with security concerns of a more traditional nature – a nuclear armed North Korea, Northeast Asia’s maritime disputes, the destabilizing impact of military modernization, and the transnational dimensions of Myanmar’s internal instability. The first two issues have seen incremental progress, thanks to active regional diplomacy. The second two, by contrast, are marked by significant uncertainty and unpredictability, in the case of military modernization, and by a limited in the range of multilateral options, in the case of Myanmar.
A fundamental lesson for Asia Pacific multilateral organizations is that they must adapt – and quickly – to this widening spectrum of regional security concerns. To be sure, as the global center of gravity continues its eastward shift, the region’s major states will be expected to assume a greater level of responsibility for devising and implementing solutions. There is little evidence, however, that at present regional multilateral organizations are equipped to adequately cope with a 21st century security agenda. The chapters comprising this volume therefore offer suggestions for how Asia Pacific governments can reinvigorate and bolster regional multilateral cooperation. They also highlight ways in which Track Two (non-official) diplomacy, through organizations such as CSCAP, can pave the way for deeper and more substantive security cooperation.
The CRSO 2008 is available at www.cscap.org and www.cscap.ca.
CRSO 2008 Table of Contents
1. 2008: A Wake-Up Call for Regional Multilateralism? Brian L. Job and Erin Williams
2. Empty Rice Bowl: Asia and the Global Food Crisis, Erin Williams and Mely C. Anthony
3. The Coming Storms: Asia’s Natural Disasters Preparedness, Victoria Bannon
4. ‘Going Nuclear’: A Solution to Southeast Asia’s Energy Crunch? Ta Minh Tuan
5. Myanmar: Prospects and Challenges of Engagement, Barry Desker and Christopher Roberts
6. Military Enhancement: The Implications for Asian Regional Security, Andrew Davies
7. Northeast Asia: Possibilities for Institutionalizing Ad Hoc Regional Cooperation, Scott Snyder
8. Rough Waters: Calming Northeast Asia’s Maritime Disputes, Keyuan Zou
