Non-traditional Security Challenges Research Articles

Non-Traditional Security Threats in Shaping Civil-Military Relations in Nepal

The concept of security has expanded beyond traditional military threats to encompass various non-traditional security challenges. The security, stability, and defense of a nation are significantly influenced by its armed forces. However, the military entities do not operate in isolation; they are an integral part of the larger society they serve. Throughout history, military institutions have not only been responsible for safeguarding a nation’s security but also played a pivotal role in shaping societal values, norms, and cohesion. The practical realm of interactions between civilians and the military encompasses both direct and indirect engagements that ordinary individuals and institutions have with the armed forces which involves discussions within legislative bodies regarding the allocation of funds, regulations, and the utilization of the military, as well as intricate negotiations between civilian and military leaders aimed at shaping and executing national security policies. Drawing on existing literature and contextual analysis with a qualitative approach, this study provides a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationship between non-traditional security dynamics and civil-military interactions in Nepal. Commencing with an exploration of the concept of non-traditional security and its applicability within Nepal, this study identifies a spectrum of non-traditional security challenges confronting the nation. Furthermore, this paper explains the intricate interplay between non-traditional security issues and the evolution of civil-military relations in Nepal.

ASEAN cooperation to combat transnational crime: progress, perils, and prospects

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has grappled with the persistent threat of transnational crime (TC) in Southeast Asia since its establishment in 1967. The rising tide of globalization and technological advancement has only exacerbated the problem, leading to the evolution and organization of various criminal activities. As ASEAN faces a multitude of non-traditional security challenges that transcend national borders, including climate change, infectious diseases, and resource scarcity, TC remains a critical concern that could jeopardize regional stability and security. This article undertakes an extensive analysis of ASEAN's endeavors to combat TC. It delves into key documents outlining ASEAN's commitment, highlights the significant achievements, and identifies the challenges facing the region. The qualitative study evaluates the effectiveness of ASEAN's response to TC within its cooperative framework and core principles. Through content analysis, it draws insights from ASEAN's official documents, as well as reports from Interpol and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to understand the regional efforts in countering TC. The research reveals a range of collaborative efforts initiated by ASEAN to tackle TC. By focusing on examples of successful operations, such as Operation Maharlika III against human trafficking and Operation HAECHI-I targeting cybercrime, the study underscores the vital role of cross-border cooperation. However, the analysis highlights the challenges posed by the complex nature of TC and the varying capabilities of ASEAN member states. It underscores the importance of regional cooperation and external partnerships to address the evolving threats of TC effectively. In essence, ASEAN's commitment to combating TC is evident through the adoption of strategic documents, joint operations, and capacity-building initiatives. Nevertheless, the evolving nature of TC and its diverse manifestations pose ongoing challenges. A balanced approach in addressing TC is needed that encompasses not only securitization but also a criminal justice response.

China-ASEAN Public Health Security Cooperation: Problems and Future Approaches

Vision 2030 of China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership puts forward that China and ASEAN need to jointly meet non-traditional security challenges, and public health security is an important part of non-traditional security. China-ASEAN cooperation in the field of public health and safety is a realistic result of promoting regional integration and a true portrayal of building a community of human destiny. At present, the public health security cooperation mechanism between China and ASEAN mainly presents three types: multilateral, bilateral and inter-country. Although China- ASEAN cooperation in public health and safety has made some achievements, there are still some practical problems, such as the need to improve legal documents, the need to enrich the main body, the need to strengthen the pool of international professionals, and the urgent need to strengthen the ability to set international issues. Under the guidance of the people-oriented China-ASEAN Public Health Community, with the system theory as the theoretical analysis tool, through the implementation of standardizing the legal documents of public health and safety cooperation, setting up the specialized organs of public health and safety cooperation, strengthening the talent pool of public health and safety cooperation, and setting the topics of public health and safety cooperation in turn, China and ASEAN will form a joint force in the field of public health and safety, and enhance the efficiency of China-ASEAN public health and safety cooperation.

Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security: India–Pakistan and the Locust Attack

The two nuclear-armed states of South Asia, India and Pakistan, besides being arch-rivals face common non-traditional security challenges. A recent example indicates that, despite having differences, they cooperated to successfully deal with the locust upsurge of 2019–2020. This study looks at why and how they arrived at joint efforts to thwart this non-traditional security threat. To set the context for this, it also explores the phases of the locust cycle and the reason why it constitutes a potential threat to the food security of both India and Pakistan. The study finds that the chances of cooperation between hostile states may increase if there are mutual threats in the non-traditional security realm. It further concludes that the chances of cooperation between the belligerent states increase if they are part of regional and international mechanisms to deal with the threats.

Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region: Prospects and Challenges

Taiwan's security is inextricably linked to the strategic stability and preservation of the regional order in the Indo-Pacific region. For the leading Indo-Pacific powers, particularly the United States, maintaining the status quo ante in the Taiwan Strait is an integral part of the rules-based order. The United States and Japan have linked it to their own security. Even though Taiwan has no formal diplomatic relations with the majority of the nations in the Indo-Pacific region, it is an intrinsic part of the regional dynamics, particularly in trade, investment, and regional supply chain contexts. Taiwan has been trying to regain its political and diplomatic position in recent years, especially under the Tsai Ing-wen administration. In that context, the Taiwan government has been reiterating the need to collaborate with the Indo-Pacific countries to safeguard a rules-based order and secure a more resilient and peaceful Indo-Pacific community. Taiwan's advocacy for an open, transparent, inclusive, rules-based order is backed by its good governance practices domestically and non-confrontational approaches externally. A region as diverse as the Indo-Pacific, where like-minded countries face a range of shared and divergent concerns and interests, needs to be truly inclusive to find solutions to traditional and non-traditional security challenges. Furthermore, the China-US rivalry, with Taiwan as a major factor between the two, is shaping the Indo-Pacific discourse. This article discusses Taiwan's centrality in the Indo-Pacific dynamics, particularly regarding the region's major power politics.

CPEC: AN ULTIMATE OPTION FOR NTS CHALLENGES

This research paper summarises the findings of the project funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under Start-Up Research Grand Program. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a landmark initiative between the two brotherly nations. CPEC is also the most important part of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which reactivates the old Silk Rout, and rebuilds connectivity between different regions of the world. South Asian region is full of nontraditional security (NTS) challenges. This study aims to discuss the integration of domestic resources and a collective mechanism for security cooperation on NTS challenges. The paper explores out the challenges covering fields including terrorism, transnational crimes; energy security; maritime security and rescue, and environmental degradation. It also analyses the features of NTS challenges, which are transnational and relevant to China and Pakistan. Finally, responding to NTS challenges, paper suggests a collective framework between both (China & Pakistan) and NTS challenges may become the significant part of security concern element that may pose severe threats to smooth and sound manner of BRI strategy in general and CPEC in particular.

Paradigm Shifts in Strategic Culture of Pakistan: An Assessment of Traditional versus Non-traditional Threat Perceptions

This study aims to establish a causal relationship that how nontraditional security challenges does not necessarily qualify to acquire a high-priority position in strategic decision-making of Pakistan owing to entanglement with traditional security concerns. The study examines that continual focus on traditional security issues has induced ‘tunnel vision trap’ where Pakistan cannot transit or at least reprioritize traditional national security challenges with non-traditional security concerns by applying securitization theory. The study finds out that even after displaying responsibility and caution in how it approaches strategic red lines within and beyond its region, its high prioritization of traditional threat perceptions weighs down on its internal nontraditional security concern. The research concludes that for Pakistan, even transitioning from geostrategic prioritization of national interest to the pursuit of geoeconomic objectives does not divorce its traditional security priority in decision-making. Such a tethered securitization architecture renders all transitionary junctions to its strategic culture futile or inconsequential.

The Indo-Pacific, an emerging paradigm for peace, cooperation, sustainable development and mutual prosperity

ABSTRACT The Indo-Pacific (IP) is a construct of contested interpretation in terms of its geo-spatiality, but there is growing consensus that it extends from the East coast of Africa to the Western shores of the Americas, inclusive of the Pacific Island states. The IP is today the nucleus of the emerging global order. Major countries, including the USA, Japan, India, France, Germany and Australia, as well as the EU and ASEAN have articulated views on the IP. The IP is characterized by cooperation and contestation given its strategic geo-political and geo-economic centrality, as a growing number of rivalries is manifesting amongst established and emerging powers. Cooperation to enhance sustainable development must take precedence in the region to create a more equitable global community underpinned by a rules-based order committed to addressing the triple challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and inequality. This paper will focus on five areas that can contribute to a peaceful and prosperous IP: 1. A rules based open and inclusive IP, 2. Traditional and non-traditional security challenges 3. Free and open trade, including connectivity and digitalization 4. Environmental security and climate change 5. Sustainable development and a people-centered IP. Finally, the paper will offer a perspective on Africa and the IP.

Forging a New Security Order in Eurasia: China, the SCO, and the Impacts on Regional Governance

Beijing played a critical role in establishing the SCO in the aftermath of the break of the former Soviet Union in response to the emerging non-traditional security challenges. Overtime, the SCO has evolved into a regional institution critical to China’s growing interests in Central Asia/Eurasia and increasingly, Beijing seeks to influence and shape the organization in support of its institutional balancing strategy—inclusive in soliciting Russian endorsement of its diplomatic agendas in the region ranging from energy security and greater economic integration, and exclusive in resisting and preventing US influence in the region. Lately, that strategy has also been displayed in the SCO membership expansion to India to minimize chance of a Washington–Delhi axis against China, at least not where SCO-wide (that would include China) interests are concerned. But the most critical transformation of the SCO as a regional institution is its utility in Beijing’s exclusive institutional balancing strategy against the US, to prevent the latter from gaining access and influence in Central Asia/Eurasia; to foster trust among member states, and develop the SCO into a regional security community, and to safeguard Chinese interests in both geo-economic (trade and energy) and geopolitical (security and regional stability) terms.

North Korea’s legislative response to COVID-19: a way forward or backward?

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted the Emergency Communicable Disease Control Act. The DPRK’s legislative response is noteworthy in five dimensions: effectiveness of communicable disease control; predictability of the authority’s response; response to emerging non-traditional security challenges; development of legal techniques; and the role of law in the society. Several provisions in the Act however prompt questions about its compliance with international human rights norms, concerning the threshold for declaring a state of emergency, the proportionality of measures, and the prohibition of discrimination. The article explores whether this legislative response leads forward or backward for the DPRK.

ASEAN and the Mekong: A Functional Approach

ASEAN and the Mekong:A Functional Approach Le Dinh Tinh (bio) Until recently the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had largely marginalized Mekong River issues. The argument against including Mekong concerns in the association's agenda originates from a geographic factor: Southeast Asia consists of both maritime and mainland areas, and for a long time countries in the former grouping did not perceive the Mekong River as an important variable affecting their security and development or that of the entire region. But things have changed. In 2020 the Mekong made its way onto the official ASEAN agenda for the first time. This essay explains why the Mekong has assumed this new sense of importance to ASEAN and how it can be approached from a functionalist perspective for the betterment of the strategic and practical interests of the region as a whole and the Mekong subregion itself. Why the Mekong Increasingly Matters The Mekong is one of the biggest and most essential rivers in the world. The livelihoods of millions of people depend on the resources the river provides on a daily basis. Although the subregion is low in its level of development, foreign investors have considered it an attractive destination. The ASEAN economies have become more united through the organization's economic integration schemes such as the Initiative of ASEAN Integration, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 (MPAC 2025), of which the Mekong subregion is an integral part. Furthermore, severe nontraditional security challenges such as water security and climate change have turned the subregion into a hotspot and a top policy priority for the riparian states and their partners. What is new is the increasing great-power rivalry, namely between the United States and China, that has engulfed the subregion. This section further examines these dynamics. First, the Mekong basin supports the livelihoods of around sixty-six million people, equivalent to 10% of ASEAN's population, including "most of the population of Laos and Cambodia, one-third of Thailand's [End Page 63] sixty-five million, and one-fifth of Vietnam's ninety million people."1 Not until recently have maritime countries such as Singapore and the Philippines, for example, realized that their economies depend a great deal on the Mekong. Singapore has sizable investments in the Mekong subregion,2 while the Philippines imports most of its rice from the subregion.3 Second, despite starting from a low level of development, the subregion consists of some of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific. Vietnam's GDP growth rates averaged 6.8% during 2016–20. Cambodia registered a rate of more than 7% during 2018–19, only slowing in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. During that same 2016–20 period, the Laotian economy expanded by more than 5.5%. The Mekong subregion is also connected to China—the second-biggest economy in the world—and this brings a lot of potential. For this reason, it is attractive to foreign investors.4 Third, as a group, ASEAN comprises the fifth-largest economy in the world, with the promise of becoming both a single production base and market. However, there are different speeds and levels of economic development within ASEAN, which has pushed regional leaders to adopt the thinking that for the region to prosper sustainably and make the most of economies of scale, narrowing the gap between the regional economies is necessary. For example, MPAC 2025 takes into account subregional arrangements. In other words, for the plan to work, the Mekong subregion must play an integral part. The same logic could be applied to trade agreements within ASEAN (such as the ASEAN Free Trade Area) and between ASEAN and its partners (such as RCEP and bilateral free trade agreements). Fourth, almost all the emerging nontraditional security challenges currently facing the world find expression in the Mekong subregion, among [End Page 64] them being pandemics, climate change, and water security. Several recent studies have even made the extreme prediction that the Mekong could dry up by the middle of the 21st century.5 In Vietnam the Mekong River is called Cuu Long, or "Nine Dragons," representing the nine branches of...

Non-Traditional Security Challenges for Nepal: A Case of Covid-19

The security landscape has undergone profound changes since the start of the twenty-first century. Non-Traditional Security (NTS) threats other than military, political and diplomatic conflicts have greatly impacted the lives of people. Over the years, the nature of threats and security discourses have drastically changed and countries like Nepal with low human development index have been severely affected. The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has brought an additional dimension to security challenges. The pandemic’s impact can be felt in all aspects of life in Nepal since it is located between two South-Asian nations: China, where the outbreak was first reported and India, the second-most affected country across the world. In Nepal, COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on health, education, economy, tourism, food security, cyber security and overall development. This paper aims at critically examining the NTS approach taken by the government of Nepal and the role played by the Nepali Army (NA) to address the pandemic to ensure fundamental human rights and development. This study also aims to shed light on lessons learned from the outbreak and the future steps needed to strengthen the Global Health Diplomacy (GHD). The study is divided into four sections namely effects of covid-19, response to covid-19, overall impact at national level, suggestions and recommendations. A descriptive-analytical review of research papers, government reports, policy statements and issues papers was conducted. The paper analyzes and interprets the pandemic preparedness and response by the government and provides recommendations for strengthening health diplomacy to combat Covid-19 pandemic in Nepal.

Iran’s Nontraditional Security Challenges under the Taliban Rule

AbstractStrong historical, cultural, linguistic, and religious affinities have bound Iran and Afghanistan within the greater Middle East region. With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Iran is likely to face the exacerbation of existing nontraditional security challenges and the emergence of new threats. Iran continues to deal with drug trafficking, an influx of refugees and economic migrants, and terrorism caused partly by more than four decades of war in Afghanistan. Although Iranian authorities have cheered the United States (US) pullout and expressed cautious optimism about the Taliban, Tehran's choice of policy toward Afghanistan and its new rulers remains to be decided. Iran is likely to continue a policy of engagement with the Taliban unless the government in Kabul realigns with Tehran's adversaries and poses security threats to Iran. In the latter situation, Iran, resorting to proxy sponsorship, is likely to model its Afghanistan policy on its Iraq policy.

Canada’s and Russia’s Security and Defence Strategies in the Arctic: A Comparative Analysis

This comparative article reveals how the general focus of Canadian and Russian threat perceptions in the Arctic have shifted from a Cold War fixation on hard defence to accommodate soft security issues over the last three decades. Both countries now pay greater attention to threats and challenges stemming from climate change, security, and safety risks associated with resource development and increasingly accessible sea routes. Although concern about military conflict arising from Arctic disputes continues to frame some media discussions in both countries, most strategic analysts and academics have moved away from this line of argument. Instead, military functions now include assertion of Canadian and Russian sovereignty over their respective internal waters, as well as protection of resources in their exclusive economic zones and on and in extended continental shelves; protection of economic interests in the North, including mineral and bio-resources; prevention of potential terrorist attacks against critical industrial and state infrastructure; and dual-use functions, such as search and rescue operations, surveillance of air and maritime spaces, support to safe navigation, and mitigation of natural and human-made catastrophes. The authors argue that analysts should parse two forms of military modernization in the Arctic: one of capability development related to the global strategic balance, where the Arctic serves as a bastion or a thoroughfare; and a second intended to address emerging non-traditional security challenges. They contend that these modernization programs do not inherently upset the Arctic military balance and need not provoke a regional arms race.

(2021) Volume 2, Issue 4 Cultural Implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC Authors: Dr. Unsa Jamshed Amar Jahangir Anbrin Khawaja Abstract: This study is an attempt to highlight the cultural implication of CPEC on Pak-China relations, how it will align two nations culturally, and what steps were taken by the governments of two states to bring the people closer.

(2021) Volume 2, Issue 4 Cultural Implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC Authors: Dr. Unsa Jamshed Amar Jahangir Anbrin Khawaja Abstract: This study is an attempt to highlight the cultural implication of CPEC on Pak-China relations, how it will align two nations culturally, and what steps were taken by the governments of two states to bring the people closer.

European Union-Asia Pacific: Working Together on Global Security

The Asia Pacific is not only the world’s largest and most populous region, it is also home to some of its fastest growing economies. At the same time, it is also a region that contains complex security hotspots, including tensions on the Korean Peninsula and maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas. The United States and China are vying for economic and military influence in the region, affecting the balance of power and security dynamics on a global scale. In recent years, the European Union (EU) has become a key trading partner for most countries in the Asia-Pacific region and is also seeking to play a relevant role as a security actor. Both regions face the same challenges and share an interest in preserving peace in their respective areas, while upholding the rules-based international order. Specifically, the EU wants to step up its security role in the Asia-Pacific by boosting cooperation with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and other strategic partners. In the current context of huge global shifts, this article argues that the area in which the EU can make a valuable contribution to stability in the region is in supporting Asia-Pacific nations to address non-traditional security challenges. European Union, Asia Pacific, Indo Pacific, non-traditional security, interregional cooperation, ASEAN, Strategic Partnerships

Globalization, deglobalization and human security: the case of Myanmar

Abstract Increased nationalism, greater protectionism and a gradual move away from a rules-based international order by some members of the international community do not bode well for vulnerable populations around the globe. Human security is threatened by a host of non-traditional security challenges catalysed by the growth of physical technologies and require multifaceted responses from a variety of actors. Many of those actors look to transnational networks built on globalized liberal order's social norms—what we call social technologies—for protection. The dwindling interconnectedness of deglobalization is likely to further empower corrupt governments at the expense of vulnerable citizens. This results from a decreased willingness by states and international institutions to defend human security. Whether one looks at the plight of persecuted citizens during Burma's military junta, human slaves in the fisheries off the coast of Indonesia, or farmers uprooted from their land by palm oil plantations, without social technologies to counterbalance the negative implications of physical technology the international community will lack the political capacity (sanctions, arms embargoes, travel restrictions, etc.), to aid those most in need. Ultimately, the effects of deglobalization on human security will depend largely on the trajectory of social technology developing alongside advances in physical technology.

Burden-sharing: the US, Australia and New Zealand alliances in the Pacific islands

Abstract One of President Joseph Biden's foreign policy priorities is to ‘renew’ and ‘strengthen’ the United States' alliances, as they were perceived to have been ‘undermined’ during the Trump administration, which regularly expressed concern that allies were free-riding on the United States' military capability. Yet the broad range of threats states face in the contemporary context suggests that security assistance from allies no longer only—or even primarily—comes in the form of military capability. We consider whether there is a need to rethink understandings of how alliance relationships are managed, particularly how the goals—or strategic burdens—of alliances are understood, how allies contribute to those burdens, and how influence is exercised within alliances. We do this by analysing how the United States–Australia and Australia–New Zealand alliances operate in the Pacific islands. Our focus on the Pacific islands reflects the United States' perception that the region plays a ‘critical’ role in helping to ‘preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region’. We conclude that these understandings need to be rethought, particularly in the Pacific islands, where meeting non-traditional security challenges such as economic, social and environmental issues, is important to advancing the United States, Australia and New Zealand's shared strategic goal of remaining the region's primary security partners and ensuring that no power hostile to their interests establishes a strategic foothold.

A new paradigm of water, food, and energy nexus.

In recent decades, global forecasts show that the demands for freshwater, energy, and food have been affected by population growth, economic development, international trade, and increasing urbanization and food diversity. Moreover, cultural changes and other phenomena have adversely affected the water, energy, and food (WEF) resources demand. Consequently, climate change adverse impact, which is an undesirable phenomenon, will be increased at a staggering rate. Numerous studies have emphasized that the lack of integrated and systematic management strategies threaten these indispensable resources' ability to meet growing demand. In many countries, the security of WEF resources, which is related to each other, has become three non-traditional security challenges that overshadow these communities' development. Before realizing the importance of interactions between these three vital resources, the management strategies were typically used for one source, which was completely independent of the other two. Since these strategies did not consider the interactions between the three systems, the applied strategies' results were sometimes contradictory. Also, due to the lack of attention to these three sectors' vital connections, the competition level among these systems has been increased. Therefore, in recent years, the study of the complex interactions and connections between these resources has led to the emergence of a new term called WEF nexus in the scientific communities. Most studies about the WEF nexus have only described the current situation or, ideally, analyzed several predetermined scenarios. However, the adopted approach should be able to analyze different scenarios and be efficient and robust enough to develop a variety of strategies and utilize them for macro-policies. In this study, after reviewing the complex interactions between the WEF systems, it was tried to introduce a novel paradigm for the WEF nexus, which concentrates on expanding the possible space of WEF nexus.

Impact of Oil Price Tumble in 2020 and US Retrenchment on the Stability of the Gulf Region

The Indo-Pacific blends a multitude of regions and melds a panoply of security architectures. Some regions are peaceful, with occasional spurts in environmental disasters and non-traditional security challenges, while others are typified by instability and security-dilemma. The Gulf region is a unique arena of the Indo-Pacific, that has stirred a virulent concoction of the oil economy, regional rivalry and US hegemony. Over a century ago, oil discovery has not just made the region wealthy but has also transformed it into a veritable Western Lake. But lately, two significant developments have begun to unravel this homeostatic condition—a tumble in oil prices and US retrenchment from the region. This is likely to have a profound influence on the regional security order. This article examines the role of oil in defining the security architecture of the region. It establishes the effect of demand-supply imbalance and the oil-price-futures on the economy of Gulf countries. Finally, it evaluates the impact of US retrenchment, and the 2020 oil price tumble, on the long-term stability of the region.