Non-traditional Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia: A Constructivist Case for Environmental and Human Security Cooperation among Japan, Korea and China

Abstract

The March 11, 2011 triple disaster in Northeastern Japan highlights how natural disasters can affect non-traditional security areas such as environmental and human security of citizens in the region. It did this domestically by displacing hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens, disrupting logistics for domestic/ international trade and destroying many small and medium sized manufacturing businesses that export their products to production networks in Japan and abroad. In the areas which took the brunt of the tsunami, it will take at least five years to be rebuilt. Those in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant are even less unfortunate, with little chance of returning to their homes over the next 20-30 years. Internationally, concerns over radiation resulted in runs on salt in China, the banning of Japanese food products and concerns over the possibility of exposure to dangerous levels of radiation and a downturn in the global economy as a result of the disruption of domestic and regional production networks supplying electronic firms, automobile manufactures and other industry connected to the global supply chain.This incident illustrates the shared nature of non-traditional security threats and the shared interests in terms of preparing and responding to these unpredictable events that can have domestic, regional and global impact. This paper will employ policy papers and interviews conducted with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the summer 2011 to argue that states in the region of Northeast Asia, in particular Japan, Korea and China have strong incentive to cooperate in the area of non-traditional security and in the areas of environmental and human security to mitigate, prevent and manage environmental threats. Recognizing that regional geo-political relations, difference levels of development, historical and territorial issues still hamper broader cooperation in the region, this paper will attempt to argue that shared interests in Northeast Asia in the areas of environmental security can be a platform for cooperation based on constructivist interpretations of international relations.