Security Treaty Research Articles

ASEAN’s responses to AUKUS: implications for strategic realignments in the Indo-Pacific

Despite the divergence in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries’ initial responses to AUKUS, 1 year after the pronouncement of the tripartite security pact, ASEAN as a collective entity has already cautiously accepted AUKUS as a new reality. Regional states’ responses to AUKUS have been shaped by their concerns about the challenges to ASEAN centrality, possible negative impacts on regional stability, and their strategic approaches to relations with both the United States and China. As many policymakers and analysts have feared, it is indeed likely that AUKUS may spark a regional arms race in certain areas and on a limited scale and bring more challenges for regional stability. At the same time, there are also uncertainties regarding the implementation of AUKUS, which raise doubts about the balance of power and deterrence effects that this new security arrangement may be able to achieve. In the long run, more regional powers, including middle powers and smaller states, may gradually gravitate toward AUKUS in the form of partnership or ad hoc issue-based cooperation. In this sense, it is quite possible that AUKUS may provide a new and perhaps flexible mode of strategic realignment in the Indo-Pacific region. Amid growing US–China strategic rivalry, the strategic landscape in Indo-Pacific may become even more divisive and competitive.

Do the AUKUS and Quad deter Chinese aggression against India?

ABSTRACT The creation of the latest security pact, AUKUS, raises questions about the relevance of the quadrilateral security dialogue or Quad for India in countering Chinese aggression. This paper explains how the two institutions work in tandem in collaboration with the larger US strategy under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative aimed at countering Chinese expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, and therefore also support India in adopting a tough position with regard to Chinese aggression along its Himalayan border.

The Shaping of the 1857 Security Pact in the Regency of Tunis: A Reappraisal of the Nineteenth Century Constitutional Reforms

Abstract This article examines the creation of the 1857 Security Pact (ʿAhd al-amān) in the Regency of Tunis. This law is commonly viewed as having been drafted and imposed by the European powers as a replication of the Ottoman Tanẓīmāt and as having inaugurated an era of modernizing reforms that led to a secularized nation-state, notably due to the notions of equality it introduced. I show instead that this new law aimed to solve concrete problems in a context of severe fiscal crisis and that its creation was more a story of hard-fought diplomatic negotiations than of modernization and secularization. While the Security Pact was imposed by European pressures, and while the Ottoman Tanẓīmāt were invoked during the negotiations, Tunisian political elites shaped its content from the start, in an effort to defend the beylical state’s legal sovereignty and affirm its Muslim character. It was these elites who introduced, against the wishes of the French government, equality for all inhabitants of the Regency (including foreigners) and the principle of a common jurisdiction for the bey’s subjects and for foreigners. These legal changes must not be analyzed as an exceptional rupture (a claim made by those who view the nineteenth century reforms as having initiated a “modern” Tunisia) but as part of a long series of transformations. Although not everyone agreed about their legitimacy, these transformations were understood by reformers within the framework of a long-standing Islamic theory of the practice of change that was based, not on ijtihād, but on the widening of custom (ʿurf) and of the discretionary power of the ruler (siyāsa).

Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo

Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo

Making Friends and Making ‘Asia’: Sino-Indian Friendship, 1947–1957

Abstract Despite their different political and economic systems throughout the 1950s, state and non-state actors in India pursued a fragile policy of friendship towards the People’s Republic of China. Instead of focusing on the failures of this relationship or its naivety, this article examines the intellectual moorings and political aspirations of its major organizational advocate, the India–China Friendship Association (ICFA). Through dynamic transnational exchanges of ideas, the ICFA imagined India’s friendship with China as the harbinger of an Asia that could overthrow imperialism and navigate the complexities of Cold War bloc politics. In doing so, it drew a contrast between a horizontal friendship that respected differences and saw them as productive in the shared struggle for nation-building and upholding regional peace, and the more hierarchical relationship augured by the Cold War’s security pacts and military alliances. Drawing on a rich collection of sources across numerous countries, this article argues that by invoking both countries’ colonial past and dreams of a shared postcolonial future, the ICFA and its backers in the Indian state promoted Sino-Indian friendship as the blueprint for a peaceful, decolonized Asia capable of creating a better world. At the same time, these visions of Asia were mediated by local renderings that both reinforced and complicated the ICFA’s vision.

Role of the CSTO in Promotion of Collective Security

This article presented to the attention of readers is dedicated to the analysis of history, present condition and development prospects of inter-state relations on national and regional security between former Soviet republics, now new sovereign Eurasian states, as well as to the examination of organization forms of such relations. Having formulated basic principles of cooperation on these issues and underlying the need of collective and coordinated activities against threats to their security and stability in new geopolitical realities stipulated by the collapse of the USSR nine post-Soviet states concluded the Collective Security Treaty which came into force in 1994. Five years later, in April 1999, presidents of six these countries, namely Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, signed the protocol on prolongation of the Collective Security Treaty for the next five years while Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to extend their membership in the Treaty and left it. It happened since due to a number of various domestic and external reasons the formation of national statehood of new sovereign states began to differ substantially from each other as to their strategic goals, aspirations and orientations which subsequently caused serious changes in their approaches to building relations with their foreign partners in bilateral and multilateral forms. In this connection in May 2002 those countries that retained their membership in the Collective Security Treaty decided to reorganize it into a new alliance with a higher degree of integration of its members in order to increase its role in promoting national and regional security – the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The present article examines basic events connected with the Collective Security Treaty Organization formation over the next 20 years, evolution of its goals and tasks, as well as requirements of making concrete directions of its activities more precise because of fundamental changes in the international environment. In the course of the undertaken analysis most important achievements of the Collective Security Treaty Organization during these years were singled out as well as concrete shortcomings in its activities were noted. Also, alternative variants of further development of this international security organization including those that may exceed the post-Soviet space were mentioned.

Australia: Political Developments and Data in 2021

AbstractThis entry includes data on changes to ministerial portfolios, party leadership changes and parliamentary composition (gender and party) in 2021. It notes changes to the Australian Electoral Act and the distribution of electoral seats federally. It includes election results from two subnational elections. It discusses a landmark report into the culture of the Australian Parliament, with specific reference to the relationship between political advisors and politicians, gender, bullying, and sexual assault. The entry notes the political decline of the ruling coalition government lead by Scott Morrison, and some, but not all, reasons for this. Policy issues discussed include women in politics, COVID‐19, climate change, the AUKUS security pact, the budget deficit and inequality.

Study of Russian Security Activities in Central Asia under Collective Security Treaty Organization

Central Asia has become a focal point for Russia due to its strategic importance and enhanced Russia’s position into world politics. Aim of this research is to analyse the Russia-Central Asia political and security relations under Collective Security Treaty Organization. To regain its lost hegemony, Russia established intergovernmental organizations in which Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) plays significant role to secure Russian security interests in the region. The whole analysis reflects that Central Asia’s geographical importance has not disappeared but enhanced more than before. Although Russian monopoly has been replaced by the other players in the region, like USA, China and Europe but its influences and interests are still present in political and security fields. Qualitative and content analysis method has been used to examine the research. Questions are addressed in regard to Russian military activity under the CSTO and Russian impact on the political and security situation of Central Asia.

Impact of the Korean War (1950-1953) on Japan and Japanese - US relationship in 1951-1960

The Korean War (1950-1953) was one of the hot spots of the Cold War. Japan is a neighboring country with North Korea, which has an important strategic position in the Asia-Pacific, also has a special relationship with the United States. For these reasons, it has suffered many impacts from this war. This article will deeply analyze the multi-dimensional impacts of the Korean War on the security, politics, economy of Japan and Japan-US relations in the period 1951-1960. As a result, this article shows that the Korean War was the basis for the US to sign a peace treaty, a bilateral security treaty with Japan. This made the two countries' security and economic relations develop and become more closely linked, clearly change the Japanese economic situation in the early stages and create the basis for Japan to take off in the 1950s.

Perception by Russian Social Media Users of Mass Protests During the Attempted Coup in Kazakhstan

The article presents the results of an applied political research on the representation of the 2022 Kazakh events in the Russian segment of social media. The context of the study stems from the significant intersection of the Russian and Kazakh segments of social media and the mutual influence of political processes. Under the political mobilization of the mass protests in Kazakhstan, which turned into an attempted coup, the activities of Russian counterelites intensified in various regions of Russia. Using a hybrid research strategy combined with cognitive mapping and social media analysis the authors managed to identify dynamic, structural and substantive characteristics of the information representation of the Kazakh events in the Russian segment of the Internet. The authors concluded that the scale of the Kazakh protests allowed to draw the short-term interest of the Russian audience, mainly from the regions bordering Kazakhstan. The use of economic triggers (rising prices, inefficient social policy, etc.) led to the involvement of the adult audience in the discussions around the Kazakh events, while a significant part of youth and young adults was excluded from information flows around the events. The study revealed that the Russian opposition attempted to use manipulative “contamination” technology in order to extrapolate the political and economic discontent in Kazakhstan to the situation in Russia. At the same time, the greatest resonance in the Russian segment of users was caused directly by the participation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the settlement, and not by the social and economic triggers that led to the events.

Narcotic and its Effects on Central Asia

Drug trafficking has created many problems for the Central Asian republics and caused significant human and financial losses. The high profit and prosperity of this trade has caused terrorist and extremist religious groups in this region to move in this direction in order to consolidate their power and buy the weapons they need to use. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of drug trafficking and the resulting organized crime in a descriptive-analytical manner and to obtain the required information from articles-books in this context, the main research question is: What effect can Narcotics have on the Central Asian countries? Findings from the research show that the use of extremist religious groups - which exist in most Central Asian countries - has posed a threat to the economic, political, security and social dimensions. Thus the Central Asian republics in order to control and management of these problems seeks to expand in the form of regional and trans-regional organizations, including the Central Asian Cooperation Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as the ECO to resolve tensions.

Statement by the CSTO Collective Security Council on the 30th Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 20th Anniversary of the CSTO

Statement by the CSTO Collective Security Council on the 30th Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 20th Anniversary of the CSTO

30th Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty: Challenges and Prospects for Cooperation in the Interests of Stability in Eurasia

30th Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty: Challenges and Prospects for Cooperation in the Interests of Stability in Eurasia

Africa and International Food Security Treaties: Is Climate Change to Blame?

Abstract This article is directed at answering three questions: what are the causes of food insecurity in Africa? What proportion of food insecurity is attributable to climate change, and lastly, how effective have the international food treaties been in addressing food insecurity in Africa? Information is scarce on the audit of the implementation, effectiveness and achievements of the various treaties over the years. None of the existing treaties specifically targets chronic food insecurity and historical issues as is common in Africa. Historical and geopolitical issues are responsible for food insecurity, as climate change only worsened the deplorable situation. It would not be possible for Africa to realise the sustainable development goals if the story does not change. Recommendations underline the need to handle historical and geopolitical issues independently, review existing treaties to identify gaps and determine the way forward.

Cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan as a Vector of Eurasian Integration

The study analyzes the areas of cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan within the framework of Eurasian integration.Aim. To identify the presence of factors contributing to the strengthening of relations between Russia and Kazakhstan at the present stage and obstacles hindering the deepening of integration processes.Tasks. To analyze the current state of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the Eurasian Union, to identify obstacles to deepening integration processes, to show forecast scenarios of interaction between Russia and Kazakhstan. To analyze how these scenarios will affect the relationship between the two countries, and what consequences will be if each of them is implemented.Methods. The article uses general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, a systematic approach, as well as an empirical method of expert evaluation.Results. The study showed that there are strong relations between the two countries in the economic sphere within the framework of the EAEU. Russia is the main trading partner of Kazakhstan. Projects related to the Caspian Sea are being developed and look very promising. Joint military exercises and supplies of Russian weapons are of great interest to Kazakhstan. Russia acts as a guarantor of Kazakhstan’s security in the region and its main partner in the Eurasian space. The Collective Security Treaty Organization also plays an important role in the relations between the two countries, which proved its effectiveness in the January 2022 events, contributing to the resolution of the political crisis and preventing extremist actions of armed terrorist groups. At the same time, the role of Kazakhstan as its closest neighbor and ally is also important for Russia, especially in the context of escalating international tensions.Conclusions. Both Russia and Kazakhstan are interested in further cooperation in the economic, military and cultural spheres. At the same time, the further deepening of integration processes is hindered by the absence of large joint investment projects and the multi-vector nature of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. In the context of the information war of the West against Russia and the increasing international tension, it is extremely important to deepen cooperation between the two countries.

New Trends in the Domestic and Foreign Policies of Putin’s Russia in Early 21st Century (Part 2)

The article is a continuation of the publication from the previous issue of the journal. In the previous part, the main focus was on Russia's domestic political and economic transformation during Vladimir Putin's first presidential term, which clearly shows a refusal from Yeltsin's limited democracy and the establishment of an authoritarian regime with Praetorian features. During his first years as president, Vladimir Putin demonstrated that, contrary to the commitments made by Boris Yeltsin's team at the OSCE Istanbul Summit, he did not intend to reduce Russia's military presence in the post-Soviet space. Conversely, the official Kremlin has intensified diplomatic efforts, which have resulted in an increase in the number of its military bases in the countries of the so-called «Near Abroad». At the same time, steps were taken to demonstrate the growing potential and ambitions of the Russian army. The corresponding activity was accompanied by purposeful actions aimed at building a modern Soviet Union around Russia. To achieve this goal, a wide range of tools was used, ranging from official statements to Moscow-initiated integration projects. The practical consequences of the respective aspirations of the new leadership of the Russian Federation were the signing of agreements on the establishment of the EurAsEC, the Common Economic Space, and the reformatting of the Collective Security Treaty into the CSTO. Analysis of internal and external initiatives of the new leadership of Russia in the period outlined in the article, in comparison with the statements of authoritative researchers, provide grounds to conclude that the construction of an authoritarian regime in the Russian Federation was accompanied by pro-Western rhetoric of its leadership due to the internal weakness of the Russian state in the early XXI century. After Russia’s significant economic growth, complemented by the introduction of comprehensive control within the country by the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin began to gradually abandon the disguise of the true nature of his regime, which soon was manifested through the prism of both tough statements and aggressive steps in the international arena.

The Russian Question at the Entente Conference in Cannes

This article aims to explore the significance of the “Russian question” at the Entente conference in Cannes, putting it into the European political context of October 1921 – January 1922. The author pays special attention to the two important rounds of the international negotiations, i. e., to the Anglo-French discussions in London in December 1921 and to the meeting of the Entente Supreme Council in Cannes itself (6–13 January 1922). The “Russian question” was one of the three key topics of these conferences; however, to the other matters (German reparations and Anglo-French security pact), it is under-researched. Besides the published diplomatic documents, the author refers to new evidence drawn from the national archives of France, Great Britain, and Belgium. The article concludes that the negotiations in London and Cannes mirrored the “Russian question”, as it stood in European politics at the end of 1921 and the beginning of 1922. D. Lloyd George, UK prime minister and initiator of the Genoa conference, was eager to use the “Russian question” as a means to further British interests, transform the Soviet regime, and reconstruct and appease Europe. It involved reducing tensions as a result of a non-aggression pact that did not impose any obligations on the UK in Eastern Europe. From the trade and economic points of view, the emphasis was put on the international consortium aimed at consolidating Western business in Russia, giving German industry leadership in the field. Nevertheless, an important part of eventual German profits in Russia would go to France and the UK as reparations. The development of the Cannes conference, which resulted in the resignation of the French cabinet led by A. Briand, showed that the “Russian question” was not only a topic of high politics, but also directly concerned the wider public and elites. Accelerating Briand’s dismissal, Lloyd George found a more stubborn opponent in his successor, R. Poincaré. As the prologue to Genoa, the Cannes meeting outlined some of its future problems as well.

The Problem of Incongruities in Understandings of the Spirit of UN Institutional Efforts in the Field of Maintaining and Restoring International Peace and Security

This article is devoted to the problem of the political and legal substantiation of the actions of state authorities to determine and declare the need for various forms of “peace operations” in the framework of the common interests of the international community and the common goals of international and collective security systems for other participants in international communication.Aim. Eliminate methodological problems in defining the content of terms “peacebuilding”, “peacekeeping (peace enforcement)” while institutionalizing the use of force within the framework of universal and regional agreements in the field of security.tasks. Formulate the lines of reasoning for the actions of state authorities in the field of political and legal substantiation of the use of national armed formations outside the national territory to solve the problems of maintaining and restoring international peace and security.Methodology. In the course of the study, the author turned to resolutions and transcriptsof meetings and other documents of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, international normative legal acts, model acts of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS member states. To draw conclusions, a search for facts and objective connections between them was carried out to confirm that the modern practice of states is carried out in accordance with the ideals underlying the modern system of ensuring international security, built around the UN paradigm, which in turn is aimed at protecting human dignity and deliverance from the scourge of war.results. The use of armed force is often a necessary condition both for maintaining peace and for preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation and renewal of conflicts. Preservation of peace in a broad sense should be interpreted as a goal and as a process of forming a common vision of the international community based on the needs of all actors. However, many problems of political mobilization of both national and international communities are generated by incongruities in understanding the content of a number of basic concepts that shape the interaction of states and circulate in public discourse. That is, the improvement of the “language” in which the main international actors conduct discourse in the field of ensuring international security is an objective necessity for the development of a modern theoretical and methodological base for the process of legitimization of political decisions by government authorities.Conclusions. To ensure the coordination of the wills of the participants in international communication, decisions of state authorities to take action on the use of force outside the national territory to protect common interests should be based on a unified interpretation of the content of the concepts of “peacebuilding”, “peacekeeping (peace enforcement)” as a “fair use of force” in order to be uniformly acceptable for various political regimes and correspond to the national-cultural, religious and other traditions of different peoples.

SENTRALISASI INDUSTRI PERTAHANAN DALAM STRATEGI INDONESIA MENGHADAPI ESKALASI ANCAMAN PASCA AUKUS

A new security pact, the so-called AUKUS – Australia, United Kingdom, United States, was just established on September 15th, 2021. Australia is promised to be aided in building its sophisticated military capability, including the most anticipated one, the nuclear submarine. Amid a deteriorating relationship with the emerging power, China, the three countries concluded a decision which led to the intensification of rivalries among great power. Between the mentioned confronting parties, southeast Asian countries apparently divided yet felt a security dilemma in responding to the establishment of AUKUS. Either it refuses any military projection effort or considers the AUKUS as a balancing manoeuvre due to China’s assertive behaviour in the South China Sea. Geographically and politically Indonesia is the key actor. This article discusses how Indonesia’s strategy should be composed on addressing the threat posed by AUKUS in the regional stage. We investigate the importance of building our own national capability to deter any upcoming threat. Defence industries find their relevance in this situation. We suggest that Indonesia should put the building and developing its national defence industries as a major agenda of the strategy for addressing current and future security threats.

Power, Politics and Children’s Citizenship: The Silencing of Civil Society

Abstract Children remain marginalised in theoretical analyses of citizenship and political rights, with their partial citizenship status attracting minimal attention. We consider the ontological need for political engagement, children’s political agency and intergenerational justice. We discuss how Derrida’s hospitality concept may inform analyses of power structures that serve to exclude children from the demos. We then examine the case of Japan where education law neglects children’s political rights, though respect for human rights and popular sovereignty are core constitutional values. Analysis of parliamentary debates addressing Article 12 and children’s right to be heard and organise collectively reveals a long-standing ideological divide concerning children’s political participation. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has explained Japan’s reluctance to implement Article 12 as reflecting “traditional” attitudes. The reality is more complex. From the late 1950s, Japan experienced a wave of student-led protests, focusing on the US-Japan Anpo Security Treaty. Subsequently, the Japanese government prioritised public order over students’ political rights, and global economic competitiveness over citizenship rights. Article 12 remains a site of struggle between those wishing to extend children’s citizenship rights and those who wish to maintain their partial citizenship, fearing social unrest and a focus away from global economic competitiveness.