93334 - Security Policies In East Asia

Learning outcomes

The course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the security policies—both conventional and non-conventional—adopted by key countries in East Asia. By the end of the course, students will be able to: - Describe the primary security issues facing East Asia. - Identify the main threats and the political decisions they have prompted in the region. - Understand the distinctions between "conventional" and "non-conventional" security.

Course contents

This course provides an in-depth analysis of key security challenges in East Asia, combining theoretical approaches with empirical case studies. After an introduction to the concepts of traditional and non-traditional security—as well as the theoretical frameworks most relevant to the region—the course examines core strategic dynamics: the rise of China, the Belt and Road Initiative, territorial disputes, and the security policies of major regional actors such as Japan, South Korea, and North Korea.

In parallel, the course explores a range of increasingly salient non-military threats, including economic and informational security, energy and climate vulnerability, and public health risks. Special attention is given to the interaction between systemic vulnerabilities and national response strategies. The North Korean nuclear program and the weaponization of economic interdependence serve as key cases for understanding recent transformations in the regional security architecture.

Readings/Bibliography

Introduction to Security Studies

• Evolution of the concept of security
• Traditional vs. non-traditional security
• Levels of analysis
• Major theoretical approaches

Buzan, B. (1997). Rethinking security after the Cold War. Cooperation and Conflict, 32(1), 5–28.

Baldwin, D. A. (1997). The concept of security. Review of International Studies, 23(1), 5–26.

Buzan, B., & Hansen, L. (2009). Widening and deepening security. In The Evolution of International Security Studies (pp. 187–225). Cambridge University Press.

China's Rise as a Strategic Challenge

• China's rise and the transformation of the regional balance of power
• PLA modernization
• Core interests
• Strategic competition with the United States

Loke, B. (2021). The United States, China, and the politics of hegemonic ordering in East Asia. International Studies Review, 23(4), 1208–1229.

Loke, B., & Guo, X. (2025). China’s coalition-building in the Indo-Pacific: Strategies of connectivity and association. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 79(4), 552–569.

Weiss, J. C., & Wallace, J. L. (2021). Domestic politics, China’s rise, and the future of the liberal international order. International Organization, 75(2), 635–664.

Owen, J. M., IV. (2021). Two emerging international orders? China and the United States. International Affairs, 97(5), 1415–1431.

The United States and East Asian Security

• The San Francisco System
• Hub-and-spokes alliances
• Forward deployment
• Evolution of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy

Izumikawa, Y. (2020). Network connections and the emergence of the hub-and-spokes alliance system in East Asia. International Security, 45(2), 7–50.

Cha, V. D. (2010). Powerplay: Origins of the U.S. alliance system in Asia. International Security, 34(3), 158–196.

Wilkins, T. S. (2022). A hub-and-spokes "plus" model of U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific: Towards a new "networked" design. Asian Affairs, 53(3), 457–480.

The Transformation of Japan's Security Policy

• Yoshida Doctrine
• Changing strategic environment
• Abe's security reforms
• Reinterpretation of Article 9
• National Security Strategy
• Military rearmament
• Collective self-defense

Hughes, C. W. (2017). Japan's strategic trajectory and collective self-defense: Essential continuity or radical shift? The Journal of Japanese Studies, 43(1), 93–126.

Hughes, C. W. (2014). Japan's foreign security relations and policies. In S. Pekkanen, J. Ravenhill, & R. Foot (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia (pp. 371–390). Oxford University Press.

Liff, A. P., & Hornung, J. W. (2023). Japan's new security policies: A long road to full implementation. Brookings Institution.

Matsuda, T. (2023). Japan's emerging security strategy. The Washington Quarterly, 46(1), 85–102.

Deterrence and Nuclear Proliferation

• Theories of deterrence
• Conventional and nuclear deterrence
• North Korea's nuclear programme
• Extended deterrence

Freedman, L. (2021). Introduction—The evolution of deterrence strategy and research. In F. Osinga & T. Sweijs (Eds.), NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2020 (pp. 3–22). T.M.C. Asser Press.

Einhorn, R. (2023). The Growing DPRK Nuclear Threat and the U.S.-ROK Response. Brookings Institution.

Jeong, I.-Y. (2016). The Limitations of the Denuclearization Efforts on the Korean Peninsula and Seeking Alternatives. Journal of Peace and Unification, 6(2), 47–70.

Maritime Security

• Sea power
• Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs)
• Freedom of Navigation
• Strategic chokepoints

Bateman, S. (2007). UNCLOS and its limitations as the foundation for a regional maritime security regime. Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 19(3), 27–56.

Li, J., & Amer, R. (2013). Freedom of navigation and peaceful uses of the seas: UNCLOS, Chinese perspectives and personal thoughts. In K. Zou (Ed.), Securing the Safety of Navigation in East Asia (pp. 139–160). Chandos Publishing.

Myers, L. (2023). China's Economic Security Challenge: Difficulties Overcoming the Malacca Dilemma. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.

Territorial Disputes

• International law and UNCLOS
• East China Sea
• South China Sea
• Dokdo/Takeshima
• Kuril Islands

Midford, P., & Østhagen, A. (2024). The East China Sea: A Case of Ocean Geopolitics and Maritime Conflict. East Asia, 41(3), 223–254.

Ebbighausen, R. (2023). Waving flags and claiming waves: Contrasting nationalisms in the South China Sea disputes. Asian Affairs, 54(4), 755–777.

Crisis Management and Escalation Risks

• Taiwan
• Crisis management
• Confidence-building measures

Swaine, M. D. (2026). Managing a Taiwan crisis: Escalation dynamics, structural obstacles, and pathways to stability. China International Strategy Review, 8, 79–91.

Harris, P., & McKinney, J. M. (2024). Strategic clarity or calamity? Competing logics of deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. International Affairs, 100(3), 1171–1187.

Human Security

• Evolution of the concept
• Human vulnerabilities
• Security and development

Alkire, S. (2003). A conceptual framework for human security (CRISE Working Paper No. 2). Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, University of Oxford.

Evans, P. M. (2004). Human security and East Asia: In the beginning. Journal of East Asian Studies, 4(2), 263–284.

Energy Security

• Energy dependence
• Energy diplomacy
• Chokepoints
• Energy transition

Ahn, S. H. (2022). Power Struggles: Energy Security and Energy Diplomacy in the Asia Pacific (Chapter 10: World chokepoints, pp. 179–197). Palgrave Macmillan.

Rettig, E. (2024). When regional energy cooperation fails: Learning from the struggles of Northeast Asia's joint oil import mechanism. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 37(5), 637–664.

Dent, C. M. (2013). Understanding the energy diplomacies of East Asian states. Modern Asian Studies, 47(3), 935–967.

Climate and Environmental Security

• Climate change
• Natural disasters
• Environmental cooperation
• Implications for regional security

Caballero-Anthony, M., & Cook, A. D. B. (2024). Understanding climate security in the Indo-Pacific. Third World Quarterly, 45(14), 2039–2046.

Public Health and Food Security in the Indo-Pacific

• Pandemics
• Health system resilience
• Population ageing and demographic decline
• Food security

Yan, B., & Tang, S.-Y. (2020). Lessons from COVID-19 responses in East Asia: Institutional infrastructure and enduring policy instruments. American Review of Public Administration, 50(6–7), 790–800.

Greitens, S. C. (2020). Surveillance, Security, and Liberal Democracy in the Post-COVID World. International Organization, 74(S1), E169–E190.

Choiruzzad, S. A. B. (2024). Status of food security in East and Southeast Asia. In E. Lee et al. (Eds.), The Water, Energy, and Food Security Nexus in Asia and the Pacific (pp. 83–112). Springer.

Cybersecurity

• Cyber warfare
• Cyber espionage
• Critical Infrastructure
• National Cybersecurity Strategies

Creemers, R. (2024). The Chinese conception of cybersecurity: A conceptual, institutional, and regulatory genealogy. Journal of Contemporary China, 33(146), 173–188.

Katagiri, N. (2024). Advanced persistent threats and the “big four”: State-sponsored hackers in China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea in 2003–2021. Comparative Strategy, 43(3), 280–299.

Kim, M.-h. (2022). North Korea’s cyber capabilities and their implications for international security. Sustainability, 14(3), 1744.

Nationalism, Identity and Security

• Nationalism
• Collective identities
• Radicalization
• Extremism

Zhao, S. (2022). From affirmative to assertive patriots: Nationalism in Xi Jinping's China. The Washington Quarterly, 44(4), 141–161.

O'Malley, S. (2022). Nationalism as a primary institution in Northeast Asia. Asia Review, 12(3), 353–389.

Wang, D., & Stevens, F. M. S. (2021). Why is there no Northeast Asian security architecture? Assessing the strategic impediments to a stable East Asia. The Pacific Review, 34(4), 577–604.

Geoeconomics and Economic Statecraft

• Weaponization of interdependence
• Supply chain security
• Economic coercion
• Export controls and sanctions
• Critical technologies
• The Belt and Road Initiative as an instrument of geoeconomic statecraft

Teaching methods

The course is based on interactive frontal lectures combining theoretical insights with empirical case analysis. Lessons will be supported by PowerPoint presentations and short audiovisual materials. Class discussion is encouraged throughout, with space for critical engagement and reflection on the topics addressed.

Assessment methods

Students who regularly attend the course will take a written exam, with a midterm (50%) in the fifth week and a final (50%) at the end of the course.

The exam will assess critical analysis skills, mastery of key concepts, understanding of the security dynamics in the region, and the ability to connect theoretical approaches and empirical cases.

Students who do not attend the course: the exam will be oral and will require the addition to the reading list for all students of Parts 1 and 2 of the following volume: Tow, W. T., Walton, D., & Kersten, R. (Eds.). (2016). New approaches to human security in the Asia-Pacific: China, Japan, and Australia. Routledge.

Teaching tools

Lectures will be accompanied by PowerPoint presentations and short audiovisual materials aimed at engaging students and facilitating the understanding of the case studies discussed.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Fiori