Peace and Security in Indo-Pacific Asia

Sorpong Peou is Full Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration and a member of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. He is a Member of the Eminent Persons Group, the Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA), and a College Fellow at McLaughlin College, York University, Toronto. His former administrative and academic positions include Chair of the Politics and Governance Department (Ryerson University) and Chair of the Political Science Department (University of Winnipeg). He also served as President of Science for Peace, based at the University of Toronto, and Manitoba Chair on Global Governance Studies (University of Winnipeg/University of Manitoba). From the mid-1990s to 2010, he was Professor of Political Science, Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan), Canada-ASEAN Fellow, and Fellow, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore).

• IntroductionPart One: Realist Tradition 1.Classical and Neoclassical Realist Perspectives 2.Offensive and Defensive Realist Perspectives 3.Realist Institutionalist Perspectives Part Two: Liberal Tradition 4.Functionalist and Neo-Functionalist Perspectives 5.Neo-Liberal Institutionalist and Political Domestic Perspectives 6.Commercial and Democratic Liberal Perspectives Part Three: Pacifist Tradition 7.Perspectives on Negative Peace 8.Perspectives on Positive Peace 9.Perspectives on Non-Violence and Peace Movement Part Four: Culturalist and Critical Theory Traditions 10.Positivist and Social Constructivist Perspectives 11.Historical Materialist Perspectives 12.Post-Marxist and Postmodernist Perspectives Part Five: Feminist Tradition 13.Essentialist and Liberal Feminist Perspectives 14.Cultural and Socialist Feminist Perspectives 15.Postcolonial and Postmodernist Feminist Perspectives Part Six: Transnationalist Tradition 16.Transnational Organised Crime 17.Economic and Environmental Security 18.Migration, Population and Pandemics Conclusions: Toward a New Indo-Pacific Asian Order

Peace and Security in Indo-Pacific Asia is for the informed, the interested, and the engaged. Sorpong Peou brings together the skills of the pedagogue with the knowledge of the scholar. Dr. David Dewitt, University Professor EmeritusSenior Scholar, York University, Toronto, Canada_________A pedagogical approach of the textbook that I appreciate is how the author respectfully engages with the theories of IR and is not pushing an agenda of denouncing some theories and trying to persuade the reader of others. We live in such polarizing times that it is truly refreshing to read scholarly work that avoids sensationalistic attacks on theories that have been debated for decades. Each theory in this manuscript is explored on its own terms, and the reader is encouraged to figure out where they stand on these enduring debates in the context of Indo-Pacific security. The approach will lead to compelling classroom discussions of the theories and the politics of the region.Dr. Mark Williams, Chair and Professor of Political Studies, Vancouver Island University, B.C., Canada. ______The book will be a truly significant contribution to the scholarship not only in Security Studies but also in the broader IR field.Dr. Carolina G. Hernadez, Carolina G. Hernandez is Founding President and Vice Chair of the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS Philippines). Professor Emeritus in Political Science, University of the Philippines (Diliman)._________This book is well-written, sound, sophisticated, and authoritative. It makes a fine textbook. Although focused on Indo-Pacific Asia, it covers all the theoretical bases.Dr. Carlyle A. Thayer, Emeritus Professor of Politics and Visiting Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra._________Sorpong Peou’s excellent book provides both the lay reader and the specialist with six important theoretical frameworks which should provide the basis for better appreciation of what a security community in Indo-Pacific Asia means in our world today. There are very few scholars who understand the region like Peou. This book is a must-read for any student or observer of security trends in the region.Dr. W. Andy Knight, Professor of Political Science, the University of Alberta, Canada.__________This book is very timely given this time of tumultuous change and raising and questioning basic assumptions are certainly the order of the day. It offers a wide range of approaches that are pertinent to the region as most books on IR that outline theories and concepts are often written for wider and arguably western audiences.Dr. Mely Caballero-Anthony, Professor and Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore._______This is a magnum opus: it examines how a wide range of theories in international relations are used by scholars to analyze peace and security affairs in Indo-Pacific Asia. Its coverage is comprehensive and its analysis quite penetrating.Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawasaki, Associate Professor of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada.____________I thoroughly enjoyed reading the chapters and would certainly use them in my gender and international security course.Dr. Miriam Anderson, Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University.________This is a very relevant comprehensive introduction to the bewildering array of theoretical approaches in international relations (IR). Dr. Tin Maung Maung Than, Associate Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.