Human Security

Human security is becoming increasingly pronounced in recent years due to changes in the security landscape of world politics. Yet, inter-state relations have continued to dominate security concerns in East Asia. This has, unfortunately, eluded the broader understanding of issues and challenges facing the peoples of East Asia.

Home to nations with rapid economic growth and development, East Asia is at the core of what some individuals have termed as the coming Asian Century. Years of economic liberalization and exposure to globalization have permitted the region to achieve high levels of interconnectedness from within and without in unprecedented ways. This has certainly reduced state control and opened up spaces for cross-border human activities. While economic wealth have increased substantially over the years, it has also brought about bigger income disparities, unsustainable safety nets and a surge in social problems from health issues to migratory concerns that threaten the safety and well-being of individuals.

Human Security: Securing East Asia’s Future timely examines the fundamental issues causing human insecurities and evaluates the extent of which human security plays a role at the state and regional levels. Covering the different areas of threats to humans and applying case study materials, this volume provides an intellectual mix ofperspectives that captures the relationship between people, state and region. This book will be of interest to those studying traditional and non-traditional security/threats, Asian human development and critical policy analysis.

• Anti-trafficking
• Cross-border human activities
• Economic liberalization
• Economic wealth
• Human rights
• Human security in East Asia
• Income disparities
• Labor migration
• Non-traditional security and migration
• North Korean refugees
• Rapid economic growth and development
• Reduced state control
• Relationship between people, state and region
• Safety and well-being
• Vulnerability of Chinese women to HIV/AIDS

From the reviews:

“Human Security: Securing East Asia’s Future, edited by Benny Teh Cheng Guan, and provides further insights into the complexities and challenges of human security in East Asian states. … deserve a wide readership among academics, scholars, and students who are interested in international relations, human rights, and Asia studies.” (Kai Chen, Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 3 (1), 2014)

"Building upon the need for a more human-centered approach, the study of human security continues to mature into a serious area of dialogue and analysis as is so wonderfully demonstrated by the work in this book."

Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President and Vice-Chancellor of Winnipeg University and former Canadian Foreign Minister 

“This collection of essays presents the reader with new and challenging insights on how human security has been implemented in a number of issue areas in East Asian countries.”

Dr. Bert Edström, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Security and Development Policy, author of Japan and the Challenge of Human Security

• , School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

  Benny Teh Cheng Guan

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