Security and Transnational Threats in East Asia

Abstract

The influence of the traditional concept of national security rather than of non-traditional security is still cleary evident in East Asia where the twilight of the Cold War remains and international issues are constrained by history problems and territorial disputes. The discussions of the links between national security and human security have been stalled though there have been increasing transnational threats which could be caused by North Korea’s possession of nuclear power and its expansion and an increase of piracy in the Straits of Malacca. This study argues that countermeasures are required to tackle transnational threats such as terrorism using nuclear power and maritime terrorism which share the nature of both traditional national security and human security after analysing transnational threats facing East Asia from an integrated perspective of national and human security, which include nuclear weapons, nuclear power plant accidents, and maritime terrorism.