CRAFTING ECONOMIC SECURITY IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION

This book addresses the up-to-date development and changing features of Economic Security. It corroborates with the concepts, policies and dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region. This book argues that economic security is an important component of national security, albeit it shall go beyond the narrowly defined national security which mainly focuses on military security and national defense. The central argument of this book identifies at least two forms of transcendence of contemporary economic security. The first transcendence is the transcendence beyond the narrow definitions and limited components, while the second one prioritizes the transcendence beyond the level of analysis; the domestic level in particular. Securing economic security is not only a concern of the government (at the national level), but also a major consideration for regional connectivity and its spill-over impact (at the international level), as well as the maintenance of livelihoods of local society, communities and people (at the grassroot level). This book demonstrates the joint efforts of transnational scholarship addressing the up-to-date development and dynamics of economic security in the Indo-Pacific region, through the lens of interdisciplinary perspectives. The contributors of this book include scholars, such as leading senior professors of international politics, international political economy, economics, anthropology, Southeast Asian Studies, research fellows and practitioners, such as a lawyer and a CEO of a start-up enterprise on green energy and carbon solution, foreign policy think tankers, technology think tankers, cyber security expert, and a diplomat (former foreign policy officer from India).

The book contests against two myths. The first is that economic security is exclusively state-centric. This book agrees that the security referent of economic security is mainly the state, that is, the government. Nevertheless, this book argues that the referents should be more than the government by advocating that economic security is also tied up with the international community, especially for the regional communities based on common strategic goals and shared interests. Besides, additional referents to economic security should include private sector actors such as enterprises and companies, and people sectors, such as civil society, local communities and people. The second is to address the new dynamics of the economic security imposed by the strategic currents such as the US-China trade war or Russo-Ukraine War, which triggered the international attention over economic security that is narrowly defined as the crisis for semiconductor chips supply chain resilience.

Contents:

• Concepts:
  • Crafting Economic Security as the Encompassing of Stability and Prosperity (Chien-wu Alex Hsueh, Masahiro Matsumura, and Alan Hao Yang)
  • Shifting from Supply Chain to Survival Chain? Delineating the Three Ds Analysis of Taiwan's New Southbound Policy to ASEAN Neighbors (Alan Hao Yang)
• National Practices:
  • Economic Security and the United States (Po-Wen Li)
  • Japan's Strategic Adaptation to US–China Techno-Hegemonic Rivalry: Regional Implications (Masahiro Matsumura)
  • The Evolving Indo-Pacific Economic Landscape: India's Position (Sana Hashmi)
  • Do the PRC Laws Support the Economic Security of the BRI Partner Countries? A Preliminary Review from Legal Perspectives (Yi-Yuan William Su)
  • Navigating Economic Security in a Turbulent Era: ASEAN Relevance in a Contentious World (Chia-Chien Chang)
• New Dynamics:
  • A Critical Appraisal of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific as a Proactive Non-Aligned Response Against Geostrategic Pressures (Masahiro Matsumura)
  • Has Recent Surge in International and Geopolitical Risks Triggered a Withdrawal of Investment from China to ASEAN? (Akio Egawa)
  • Thailand's Efforts to Achieve the SDGs and Possible Cooperation with Japan and China (Akio Egawa)
  • Economic Security at the Localities: Contextualizing Local Community in Thailand's Economic Resilience (Saifon Suindramedhi and Alan Hao Yang)
  • How Does Emerging Technology Facilitate Security in the Indo-Pacific Region? A Case Study of the US–India Collaboration (Roger C Liu)
  • Geoeconomic Competition of EV Industries and its Implications to the Indo-Pacific Economic Security (Claire Lin, Alan Hao Yang, and Chong-Lun Wei)
• Conclusion and Prospect to the Future:
  • Conclusion: Paving the Future for Economic Resilience (Masahiro Matsumura, Chien-Wu Hseuh, and Alan H Yang)

Readership: This book is targeted at the professionals, policy communities who have strong intention to investigate the relations and dynamics of multidimensional economic security in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also written for the graduate students and undergraduate students of international relations, economics, and area studies of Asia and Southeast Asia.