National Security, Statecentricity, and Governance in East Asia

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. State-Centric Challenges to Human-Centered Governance

   • Brendan Howe

   Pages 1-14

3. Kimism in Sŏn’gun Korea: The Third Generation of the Kim Dynasty

   • Daniel A. Pinkston

   Pages 15-35

4. In the Land of Democratic Rollback: Military Authoritarianism and Monarchical Primacy in Thailand

   • Paul Chambers

   Pages 37-60

5. Governance and Human Insecurity in Myanmar

   • Alistair D.B. Cook

   Pages 61-80

6. The Politics of Survival in Cambodia: National Security for Undemocratic Control

   • Sorpong Peou

   Pages 81-105

7. Neo-authoritarian Peace in Timor-Leste

   • Yuji Uesugi

   Pages 107-126

8. More Growth, Less Freedom? Charting Development Pathways in Lao PDR

   • Kearrin Sims

   Pages 127-149

9. Conclusion

   • Brendan Howe

   Pages 151-156

10. Back Matter

    Pages 157-160

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This book assesses the extent to which an emphasis on national security and prioritization of state interests has dominated governance policy-making in Northeast and Southeast Asia, at the expense of human security, human development, and human rights. The findings are that in many cases, there are embedded structural obstacles to achieving human-centered governance objectives in the region. These relate to the role of the military, historical authoritarian legacies, and new authoritarian trends. Contributors examine not only the most obvious instances of military domination of governance in the region (North Korea with its “Military First” philosophy, Thailand since the 2014 coup, and Myanmar with its long history of military rule), but also less well known examples of the influence of conflict legacies upon governance in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Laos, as well as the emergence of new reservoirs of power and resources for the forces of authoritarianism.

• National Security in East Asia
• Political freedom
• Asia-Pacific
• Modernization
• Asian Tigers
• Asian Tiger Cubs
• Statecentricity
• Good governance
• IMF
• World Bank
• Economic development
• Human Rights
• Military
• Conflict legacies
• democracy

“The edited book is innovative in its approach and seeks to bridge the gap between a conceptual model (securitization of governance) and area studies (six Asian countries). It represents a high-quality piece of research that will have an impact on the existing literature.” (Ralf Emmers, Professor of International Relations, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

• Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)

  Brendan Howe

Brendan Howe is Professor and Associate Dean at the Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, South Korea. Major recent works include Democratic Governance in Northeast Asia (2015) and Post-Conflict Development in East Asia (2014).

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