Why cultural values cannot be ignored in international relations. Author: Kadira Pethiyagoda, Canberra One hundred years ago began the war that was supposed to end all wars.
This inauspicious centenary has allowed the foreign affairs commentariat to indulge in one of the things it is best at — drawing historical analogies. It is true that aspects of the global landscape look similar to a century ago. States push the boundaries of international law and act unilaterally, returning to old-school territoriality. A major redistribution of strategic and economic weight is also afoot. This time the shift is seismic, moving across entire continents. Today’s power shifts, however, have far more complex implications than last century’s. Culture is making a comeback as a factor in international relations. In the last century, most Western policymakers presumed that certain ‘universal’ human traits govern international affairs. Cultural values impact what people, and therefore states, want and think in world affairs, often subconsciously.
20140821_DCDC_GST_5_Web_Secured.pdf. Halifax International Security Forum. Plenary 6 - Arctic Encounters: Hot Commodities, Cold War Panelists agreed that this session was particularly timely given the announcement by Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel’s regarding the first U.S.
Defense strategy for the Arctic the previous day. In the context of climate change, melting ice and new-found access to resources, there was clear consensus among the panelists and participants that cooperation is required in managing activities in the Arctic related to search and rescue, the environment and the economy. It was noted that the first binding agreement by the Arctic Council was on search and rescue in the region. Panelists pointed to the cooperation at the Arctic Council as a primary reason that the relationships amongst Arctic nations tend to be fairly peaceful.
Resources. The Fear of Sharing and the Search for Flight 370. There are myriad questions surrounding the ongoing search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but one thing has become crystal clear to U.S. military officials: Asia Pacific countries need to learn how to play together better.
The search for the jetliner, now in its 22nd day, would have gone faster and maybe have been more effective had Malaysia, China, India and other countries involved in the search learned better how to share their intelligence and coordinate the information they had, say current and former Pentagon officials. "This is yet another example of the incredible need to share among countries in the Asia Pacific," Vikram Singh, who last month left the Pentagon as a deputy assistant secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, said in an interview.
While the search for the jetliner shows a high degree of cooperation between countries in the region, there are a number of examples where that coordination fell short. China blamed Malaysia early on for hoarding information. 2012417114949218734The Global Power Shift to Asia.pdf. Big enough for all of us: geo-strategic competition in the Pacific Islands. Executive Summary The centre of global economic gravity has moved to the Asia-Pacific.
The neglected and relatively poor Pacific end of the region is increasingly attracting the attention of outside powers as its neighbourhood has grown wealthier. In particular, China’s profile in the Pacific Islands has grown and has spurred a resurgence of American interest in the region. These developments have led a number of analysts to speculate about a new great-power competition being played out in the Pacific Islands.
Placing China’s activities in the region in a geo-strategic paradigm akin to that of East Asia is, however, inappropriate and potentially counter-productive, obscuring an understanding of the transformative economic role China could play in the region. Australia and the United States should cooperate with China in areas that support Pacific Island priorities rather than building any new security or diplomatic arrangements designed to compete with it. Geo-strategic competition? Aid. Twelve of the Most Intriguing Geostrategic Gestures of 2013. At the risk of having left out a tectonic shift or two here and there, here’s my list of twelve of the most intriguing and potentially far-reaching geostrategic gestures of the year.
As you can see, as in the Cold War, most have been moves by the U.S., Russia and, increasingly, China, to improve their placement on the chess board. For the most part, also as in the Cold War, they are using proxy territories to do so. 1. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s friendly overtures to the United States, soon after taking power in August. Twelve of the Most Intriguing Geostrategic Gestures of 2013.