An alternative to geopolitics

Abstract

The security agenda for the Asia—Pacific has been overshadowed in recent years by a prolonged financial and growth crisis in the region, which has brought severe hardship to the more vulnerable sectors of society, especially in Indonesia. These developments have also generated unprecedented criticism of, and even self‐criticism by, the main advocates of neoliberal medicinal solutions, including U.S. Treasury officials and high officers in the IMF and World Bank. One positive result is greater receptivity among the governments of the region to a more people‐oriented approach to economic policy.

Also critical for the formulation of any future regional security policy was India's decision to conduct nuclear weapons tests in April 1998, with Pakistan quickly following suit. These explosions triggered angry reactions from many governments, especially from the U.S., which has demanded a nonproliferation regime from non‐nuclear states while refusing nuclear disarmament for itself and other nuclear‐armed states.

The Indo‐Pak nuclear explosions raised the danger of an Asian nuclear confrontation and a regional arms race, especially if India's weapons are being developed, as some allege, with China in mind more than Pakistan. Such heightened regional concerns arose when the Asia—Pacific governments were struggling to apply their scarce resources to the dual challenge of addressing citizen needs while also restoring economic normalcy in the aftermath of the dramatic declines of the last several years.

Against such a background, we must consider two major issues: first, the new geopolitical threat that challenges prospects for real security in the Asia—Pacific region, and second, a possible alternative security framework.