Drawing on cutting-edge research from leading scholars, this book investigates state preferences for regime creation and assesses state capacity for executing these preferences in Northeast Asia’s energy domain, defined as the geographical area comprising the following countries: Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea. It examines questions pertaining to how states perceive the need and necessity for establishing a regime when it comes to the issue of energy and how much commitment they make to the effort in Northeast Asia. The book analyses the factors that shape each country’s fundamental energy interests in the region, how these interests impact their attitudes toward engaging the region on energy security and the way they carry out their regional engagement. Based on countries’ interests in promoting institutionalized regional energy cooperation and their capacity for forging that cooperation, the collection assesses each state’s role in contributing to an energy regime in Northeast Asia. It then concludes with a critique on the decade-plus quest for energy security cooperation in Northeast Asia and suggests ways forward for facilitating regional energy security cooperation. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of environmental policy, energy policy, security studies, Asian studies and international relations.

Defining and conceptualizing Northeast Asia’s security complex poses unique quandaries. The security architecture in Northeast Asia to date has been predominately U.S.-dominated bilateral alliances, weak institutional structures and the current Six Party Talks dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. There has been a distinct lack of desire among regional countries as well as the U.S. to follow in the footsteps of Europe with its robust set of multilateral institutions. However, since the late 1990s, there has been burgeoning interest among regional states towards forming new multilateral institutions as well as reforming and revitalizing existing mechanisms. Much of this effort has been in the economic and political arenas, with the creation of bodies such as the East Asian Summit, but there have also been important initiatives in the security sphere. This book offers detailed examinations about how this potentially tense region of the world is redefining certain longstanding national interests, and shows how this shift is the result of changing power relations, the desire to protect hard-won economic gains, as well as growing trust in new processes designed to foster regional cooperation over regional conflict. Presenting new and timely research on topics that are vital to the security future of one of the world’s most important geographical regions, this book will be of great value to students and scholars of Asian politics, regionalism, international politics and security studies.

A new look at the different perspectives on energy security policies of European and Asian countries. The book explains the reasons for the failure of EU common energy policies and the deficiencies in the policies towards Central Asia. It examines Chinese energy diplomacy, and the possibility of energy competition and cooperation in Northeast Asia.

Many states appear to have strong sentiment on energy security and energy transit vulnerability. Some analysts see the rapidly increasing demand for energy and competition for energy resources leading to nationalistic energy policies. Others argue that global trends with efficient energy markets and growing options on renewables suggest more relaxed energy outlooks. This book focuses on Asia, where global demand for energy is now concentrated in the aspiring and rising powers of the region: China, India, Japan and South Korea, and also recognises the importance of Russia as a growing energy supplier. Contributions by experts in the field provide detailed and parallel case studies. Shedding light on the ongoing debate in the literature regarding energy outlooks of major Asian states, they analyse whether energy policies are expected to evolve along market oriented cooperative lines or more competitive and even destructive mercantile, nationalist lines. The book argues that states are not unitary actors even in the key energy security arena and there are competing and contrasting viewpoints in Asian states on energy security. It suggests that domestic debates structure thinking on energy security, making energy policy more contingent than assumed by purely market or geopolitical logics. Providing a strong contribution to comparative energy security studies, the book fills an important gap in the literature on energy and national security and offers a basis for conducting further inter-state, interactive analysis. It will be of interest to researchers on Asian Studies, energy politics and international relations.

From the perspective of the interaction between China and the world, China's Major Country Diplomacy: Chinese Characteristics, Connotations, and Paths comprehensively combs the adjustment and transformation of China's diplomatic concept and diplomatic practice, which constitute the whole connotation of diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Based on the new diplomatic ideas and practices proposed since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, this review volume comprehensively and deeply explores the connotation, expression forms, and promotion path of diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Diplomacy with Chinese characteristics is a series of new ideas, concepts, models, and practices put forward by China as a big country with increasing influence in the world in the new era to meet the needs of its own and world development. Its connotation and extension are different from previous diplomatic ideas and practices, and more different from diplomatic ideas and practices of other major powers in the world today. It represents the future development direction of the world. The special world significance of new thinking and new path will be embodied with the practice of characteristic diplomacy, which will bring structural impact to the world.

This book explores the progress in and the obstacles surrounding developing comprehensive security cooperation between Russia and South Korea since diplomatic relations were established in 1991 within the framework of economic security. The book focuses on oil and natural gas projects, linking the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Korean Railroads, industrial development in the Nakhodka Free Economic Zone, fishery cooperation, and the arms trade, and examines whether these five aspects of cooperation serve to contribute to building Russian-South Korean bilateral and regional economic security. The author argues that these five aspects of cooperation all have the potential to enhance comprehensive bilateral security and further regional economic security in Northeast Asia. However, Russian-South Korean economic cooperation has been hampered by a number of obstacles, including domestic factors as well as external factors, and prevented Russia and South Korea from fulfilling their potential for creating a cooperative comprehensive security relationship. The author concludes with an assessment on the utility of the concept of multi-dimensional security cooperation as a framework for studying and improving the prospects for Russian-South Korean bilateral relations.