Energy and Non-Traditional Security (NTS) in Asia MELY CABALLERO-ANTHONY, YOUNGHO CHANG, and NUR AZHA PUTRA, eds. Heidelberg: Springer, 2012, ix+121p. / Human Security: Securing East Asia's Future BENNY TEH CHENG GUAN, ed. Dordrecht and New York: Springer, 2012, xiii+255p.

Abstract

Energy and Non-Traditional Security (NTS) in Asia MELY CABALLERO-ANTHONY, YOUNGHO CHANG, and NUR AZHA PUTRA, eds. Heidelberg: Springer, 2012, ix+121p.Human Security: Securing East Asia's Future BENNY TEH CHENG GUAN, ed. Dordrecht and New York: Springer, 2012, xiii+255p.At present, non-traditional security issues have increasingly come to forefront of international attention, due to ongoing insecurity of populations and communities in Asian states. As a theme of global relevance, energy security in ASEAN nations has moved beyond issues of sovereignty and national security and gradually involved well-being of their populations. From nontraditional security perspectives, Energy and Non-Traditional Security (NTS) in Asia, is a timely collection of essays by well-chosen scholars who provide insightful explanations of salient aspects of energy security in ASEAN, and advance a series of policy recommendations at international, national, and individual levels, many of which should be practical in future.As Mely Caballero-Anthony and Nur Azha Putra conclude, security, stability, and sustainability are three fundamental features of non-traditional security to energy security (Anthony et al., pp. 4-5). Discussing negative impacts of energy security in ASEAN states, Maria Nimfa F. Mendoza examines current situation of energy markets, and explores socio-economic impacts on them at both microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. For instance, ASEAN states are burdened by considerable transportation costs, which lead to higher product costs than product prices. In words of Fitrian Ardiansyah, Neil Gunningham, and Peter Drahos, transaction costs are another negative impact which requires searching for, negotiating and enforcing contracts (Anthony et al., p. 109). In this respect, Indonesia sets a good example: for Indonesian government, there is a need to increase networked governance capacity on energy decisionmaking, and create a stable core of bureaucratic decision-makers (Anthony et al., p. 111). As Ardiansyah, Gunningham, and Drahos suggest in accordance with case of Indonesia, it is more practical to establish multilateral forums to coordinate central government, local government, investors, and developers.However, should ASEAN states provide subsidies for energy security? Mendoza stresses that fuel subsidies will probably distort product and even lead to biases in resource allocation that move away from labor-intensive industries (Anthony et al., p. 69). For example, governmental subsidies for bio-fuel could reduce relevant efficiency in helping poor consumers, since a substantial portion of governmental subsidies do go to richer consumers. Furthermore, subsidies for fossil fuel would distort corresponding pricing.The contributors advance a series of recommendations for enhancing energy security. In view of Youngho Chang and Swee Lean Collin Koh, market governance adds essential dimension to policy recommendations for energy security. There are four approaches to governance: market, bilateral, trilateral, and unified governance. In context of ASEAN states, market governance is most applicable approach, which is defined as an adequate and reliable supply of energy resources at reasonable prices (Anthony et al., p. 28). Because this approach does not merely balance the virtues of free market principles and government regulatory mechanisms (Anthony et al., p. 25) and encourage investment in energy sources, but also meets rising regional demand for energy. In case of Fukushima accident in Japan, Chang and Koh address adequate governance, environmental influences, and human costs in guaranteeing energy security. Moreover, based on evaluations of energy diversity in ASEAN states, Youngho Chang and Lixia Yao explain that energy diversity can constitute another approach to ensuring energy security in ASEAN states, offering not only a variety of energy infrastructures, but also a variety of energy sources. …