Views on National Security in East Asia

Abstract

In modern times, state-centered and nationalistic ideas on security have become dominant in many parts of East Asia as several governments have pursued autocratic and repressive policies in the pursuit of securing regime and economic development. This state-centered security orientation follows the Machiavellian edict that the end justifies the means, and orders the relations between state and society (Alagappa 2003). Concerns with national security and related ideas concerning the relations between the state and the outside world were lacking in East Asia during the premodern period and emerged as a reaction to imperialistic violence imposed by Chinese dynasties, Japanese colonialism, and competitions within East Asia among Western imperialistic powers (Duara 2006). In order to provide a context for the thinking of East Asians concerning national, family, and individual security, this chapter first addresses East Asia’s historical, sociocultural, and economic backgrounds. Then, current issues in this region are addressed.