Globalisation and Security in East Asia

Globalisation and security are two of the most poorly understood concepts in the academic and policy worlds. Security has been described as an underdeveloped concept (Buzan 1991), and globalisation, for a variety of reasons and as briefly described below, has been subject to any number of definitions. The inability of academics and policy-makers alike to agree on the individual definitions and implications of these two issues, despite the fact that they are seen to be of great contemporary importance, is worrying. Even more worrying is the lack of attempt to study in depth the intersection between the two concepts and consequences for international stability. We are thus faced with a pressing need to define and interconnect the twin issues of globalisation and security. Pioneering attempts have already been made to investigate the relationship between globalisation and security, in terms of its creation of new security actors, problems and responses (Cha 2000). However, although very valuable in providing a starting point and emergent framework for consideration of the globalisation–security nexus, these attempts have tended to lack a strong empirical basis and geographical focus. This type of focus is important because globalisation is likely to differ in its security impact between regional contexts.