STRENGTHENING NONGOVERNMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION

2009–2015

In thinking about how to build security cooperation in Asia, experts have tended to focus almost exclusively on how states interact. However, evidence from around the world points to the fact that nongovernmental actors, particularly civil society organizations, are playing a growing role on security issues. This implies that they have important contributions to make in helping build regional cooperation and in complementing and strengthening like-minded governmental initiatives. JCIE conducted a study to explore how such nongovernmental initiatives can concretely contribute to regional security cooperation in East Asia.

Asia on the Move conference

STUDY TEAM 1:
The Role of NGOs in Regional Security

From 2010 to 2014, a team of mid-career experts assessed what civil society organizations and networks are currently doing that contributes to regional security. The team carried out case studies in the fields of global health, disaster relief, human trafficking, piracy, and climate change to identify how civil society is contributing to efforts in regional cooperation in the fields of both traditional and nontraditional security.

STUDY TEAM 2:
The Movement of People in East Asia and the Role of Civil Society

According to the UN’s International Migration Report 2013, migration within Asia grew by an average of 1.5 million migrants per year, with approximately 54 million people migrating from one Asian nation to another in 2013 for tourism, study, work, or marriage. While both economic and noneconomic activities motivate migration in Asia, there are numerous restrictions on immigration in each country and little binational or regional cooperation to date to address the relevant issues. Migrant workers, foreign spouses, and undocumented immigrants incur an enormous cost to overcome immigration restrictions, and are also excluded from various legal rights, placing them in a vulnerable position. As economic globalization and regional community building progress in East Asia, migration will continue to increase. The region’s nations must work together to address the challenges posed by international migration.

In 2014–2015, researchers from Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam analyzed migration in their respective countries and investigated what kind of regional cooperation and networks would serve to build a safe and orderly immigration system in East Asia. In addition to quantitative research, they conducted qualitative research on how civil society within each country is addressing these challenges.

HAN SUNG-JOO, Chairman, Asan Institute for Policy Studies

CHARLES MORRISON, President, East-West Center

JUSUF WANANDI, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta

WANG JISI, Dean, School of International Studies, Peking University

JAMES GANNON, Executive Director, JCIE/USA

TOMOKO SUZUKI, Program Officer, JCIE

Conceptualization of Security

RIZAL SUKMA

Executive Director, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta [Team Director]

GUI YONGTAO

Associate Professor, Peking University

JAMES GANNON

Executive Director, JCIE/USA

Global Health

YANZHONG HUANG

Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Global Health Studies, John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University

Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Assistance

YUKIE OSA

Chairperson, Japan Platform; President, Association for Aid and Relief, Japan

Human Trafficking

JUN HONNA

Associate Professor, Ritsumeikan University

Piracy

J.N. MAK

Independent Analyst; former Director of Research, Maritime Institute of Malaysia

Climate Change and Energy

CHUNG SUH-YONG

Associate Professor, Korea University

MELY CABALLERO-ANTHONY

Associate Professor, Head of Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) [Team Director]

TOSHIHIRO MENJU

Managing Director and Chief Program Officer, JCIE (Japan) [Team Director]

AVIANTHI AZIS

Lecturer, Dept. of International Relations, University of Indonesia

LE BACH DUONG

Co-Director, Institute for Social Development Studies

TIAN FANGMENG

Professor, Beijing Normal University (China)

ATSUKO GEIGER

Director of Operations, JCIE/USA

LEE HYEJIN

Program Associate, JCIE, Researcher, Institute of Comparative Economic Studies, Hosei University

MATHEWS MATHEW

Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Policy

JORGE V. TIGNO

Associate Professor and Department Chair, Dept. of Political Science, University of Philippines

MOE THUZAR

ISEAS Fellow and Lead Researcher, Socio-Cultural Affairs of the ASEAN Studies Centre

PUBLICATIONS

This program was made possible through a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of their Asia Security Initiative

Study Team 1 was carried out in cooperation with CSIS Jakarta.

Study Team 2 was carried out in cooperation with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

EVENTS

Strengthening Nongovernmental Contributions to Regional Security Cooperation | Tokyo Workshop

On January 18–19, 2010, the participants gathered in Tokyo for a workshop to discuss initial findings of a project examining (1) the roles of civil society in enhancing regional security cooperation, (2) common features of the roles of civil society beyond the issue areas, and (3) key factors for successes of civil society activities contributing to regional security cooperation.

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