Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

In keeping with the theme of this volume, this chapter examines the evolution and achievements of security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, with a view to gauging where it might be headed. 'Security Cooperation' is, of course, a rather broad term that can be applied to a wide range of activities. The analysis undertaken in this chapter will be limited to regional security institutions and other dialogue channels however, given that it is in relation to these processes that the SDSC has typically made its most visible and important contributions to security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. The chapter is divided into three main sections. It begins by examining the evolution of regional security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific-a process which really only began in earnest during the 1990s. It then considers the successes and shortcomings of regional security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, including some brief reflections upon the contribution that the SDSC has made toward the furtherance of these endeavours. Finally, the chapter concludes with some observations regarding the main issues and prospects facing regional security cooperation in this part of the world.

Power and International Relations: Essays in Honour of Coral Bell

“…Bell's enduring interest in the past and her interest in the practices of international relations no doubt predisposed her to Wight, whom she later called 'the chief intellectual influence of my entire life', and his approach to the field. 12 In 1951 14 appointed him to a Readership in 1949. 15 Wight's early scholarly achievements were few, but what he had published was well-regarded.…”

“…The flavour and texture and palatability of what is achieved will vary chiefly in accordance with their respective skills and techniques, because there are not many other factors of variation. 12 A standout feature of Dependent Ally is Coral's deep knowledge and application of history which is, indeed, a feature of much of her work. In surveying the history of the British-Australian relationship, for instance, she reaches back to the 1850s to an episode during the Crimean War which she argues highlights some of the central problems of the relationship which would culminate with Australia's 'turn to America' almost a century later.…”

“…Coral was pessimistic about the 'political limitations on the ability of a government in a democracy to pursue an unpopular course of action in a period of less than immediate crisis'. 12 The problem was that in conditions of crisis, 'decisions had to be taken at great speed, with little leisure for reflection on the limits they might later impose on the negotiating position of the West'. 13 In the final analysis, the West's ability to build requisite strength in the Cold War's first decade was the result of failures in leadership, the nature of democratic institutions, and the commitment to pluralistic decision-making within countries and across the alliance.…”

“…In that sense crisis management was akin to the arms control logic that both Schelling and Bull had outlined a decade before whose job was to effect restraint in conflict rather than its avoidance. 12 As Bell herself argued, ' A sense of the permanence of conflict, and the probability of crisis, between nations is the only adequate incentive to serious work on managing crises and limiting the destructiveness of the armed hostilities they make evoke'. 13 Here Bell was contributing to a tradition of thinking that the international system did not suddenly grind to a halt as soon as force was used: diplomacy did not stop as soon as the firing started, but could continue into it.…”

“…As a junior officer in Australia's Ministry of External Affairs, she was actually 'present at creation' when ANZUS was signed by its three adherents in San Francisco in September 1951. 12 Her explanation of why the event she witnessed came about, and how ANZUS evolved, is offered in her much acclaimed book, Dependent Ally. The work remains arguably the preeminent study on Australia's post-war alliance (the other widely acclaimed study of ANZUS creation was written by JG Starke, and, while technically proficient, was written primarily as an international law treatise).…”