Asia Strategy Research Articles

EUROPEAN UNION’S SECURITY POLICY IN REGARD TO CENTRAL ASIA WITHIN THE EU STRATEGY FOR CA

As Central Asia undergoes a rapid transformation process, political, economic and security developments remain uncertain and difficult to predict. External actors will play a key role in defining the contours of transformation in Central Asia. In recent years, a number of powerful countries—mainly China, the Russian Federation and, to a lesser extent, the United States, Japan and Turkey—have sought to increase their influence in Central Asia. There was a timely initiative proposed by Germany, which presided over the European Union at the time, to launch the process of rethinking EU participation in Central Asia, culminating in the development of a Strategy for Central Asia. Thus, the European Union has reinforced its presence at a strategic moment for Central Asia. The Strategy for a New Partnership, adopted by the European Council on 21-22 June, 2007, became the main document for the significant and decisive strengthening of EU policy in Central Asia. The strategy represents the most ambitious EU project in the region and demonstrates a significant improvement in relations. The EU has the needed resources and, in line with the Strategy, it wants to do its part to transform the region into a secure and well-governed area, which is also in the interests of Central Asians. In 2019, in order to intensify cooperation, the EU updated and launched the new Strategy for Central Asia. It should be noted that security is a particularly important issue. In both the first Strategy 2007 and the updated Strategy 2019, the theme of security is reflected in various EU programs and projects. Thus, the article will provide a general analysis of EU’s security programs in Central Asia.

EU'S CENTRAL ASIA STRATEGY: NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR PARTNERSHIP

The article dwells on the prospects and opportunities of European Union’s new Central Asia Strategy defining trends and projects being implemented as part of 2020-2027 strategy. Furthermore, the article reviews current state of relations between EU and Central Asian countries, the main factors contributing to its strengthening and further development. EU’s new Central Asia Strategy is aimed at fostering sustainability of region where EU is one of the key players, including such areas as investment, infrastructure and trade.

Salt intake and salt-reduction strategies in South Asia: From evidence to action.

The World Health Organization recommends salt reduction as a cost‐effective intervention to prevent noncommunicable diseases. Salt‐reduction interventions are best tailored to the local context, taking into consideration the varying baseline salt‐intake levels, population's knowledge, attitude, and behaviors. Fundamental to reduction programs is the source of dietary salt‐intake. In South Asian countries, there is a paucity of such baseline evidence around factors that contribute to community salt intake. Upon reviewing the electronic literature databases and government websites through March 31, 2021, we summarized dietary salt intake levels and aimed to identify major sources of sodium in the diet. Information on the current salt reduction strategies in eight South Asian countries were summarized, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. One hundred twelve publications (out of identified 640) met our inclusion‐exclusion criteria for full text review. Twenty‐one studies were included in the review. Quality of the included studies was assessed using the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute assessment tool. The primary result revealed that mean salt intake of South Asian countries was approximately twice (10 g/day) compared to WHO recommended intake (< 5 g/day). The significant proportion of salt intake is derived from salt additions during cooking and/or discretionary use at table. In most South Asian countries, there is limited data on population sodium intake based on 24‐h urinary methods and sources of dietary salt in diet. While salt reduction initiatives have been proposed in these countries, they are yet to be fully implemented and evaluated. Proven salt reduction strategies in high‐income countries could possibly be replicated in South Asian countries; however, further community‐health promotion studies are necessary to test the effectiveness and scalability of those strategies in the local context.

Beyond Eurocentrism: Kautilya\u2019s realism and India\u2019s regional diplomacy

The article is a modest attempt to deparochialize Eurocentrism embedded within the discipline of International Relations by examining Kautilya and his Arthashastra. Kautilya’s text serves as a potent non-Western theoretical and conceptual reservoir to engage with and thereby to interrogate the Eurocentric realist tradition. The subject matter of Arthashastra precisely earns him the title of ‘first great political realist’ because much of the bedrock assumptions of realism that Europe came to know very late, Kautilya had in ancient India grasped them. Therefore, his Arthasastran realism offers an indigenous theoretical toolkit to examine India’s strategic culture. In fact, Kautilya’s realism is there in the DNA of India’s strategic culture and has been the default strategy for South Asia as India still perceives the region through the historical sub-continental prism. Nevertheless, its application varied across leadership. However, the rise of Modi had revitalized the dynamic of Arthashastra by openly and boldly embracing Kautilya as vividly underscored by his ‘Neighborhood First’ diplomacy in South Asia. Thus Kautilya apart from being a non-Western begetter of the realist tradition offers a reliable understanding of India’s regional diplomacy in the subcontinent.

Behind the new European Union strategy on Central Asia: some conceptual aspects

The research article would be devoted to the study on the new EU-Central Asia strategy for partnership, which has been presented this year in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Given geopolitical characteristics of region countries and importance of Central Asian region for the world leading countries and economies, authors develops further research ideas on the theoretical, methodological and legal basics of that strategy. For almost three decades of partnership, Central Asia has become of a great strategic importance to the European Union due to the geographic location of the region between Asia and Europe and mutual common interests in cooperation issues. The new EU-CA cooperation strategy lies within the general foreign policy of the European Union towards its neighboring countries and regions. The author tries to find and justify changes and challenges of new strategy, comparing to the previous one, and comes to the conclusion on the inevitable importance of the European Union for the future development of Central Asian region. Key words: European Union, Central Asia, new strategy, partnership, aspects.

‘Not here for geopolitical interests or games’: the EU’s 2019 strategy and the regional and inter-regional competition for Central Asia

ABSTRACT The European Union’s (EU) 2019 New Strategy for Central Asia and joint meetings with Central Asia’s five foreign ministers established standards and expectations for mutual relations. Throughout those initiatives and proclamations, the EU stresses its un-geopolitical essence and behaviour, including the statement that affords the article’s title. The article identifies five issue areas that demonstrate that, despite declarations otherwise, the EU reasons and acts geopolitically in this contested region: (1) the promotion of Central Asian regionalism; (2) the inclusion of Central Asia in formations beneficial to the EU; (3) selectively in economic and functionalist cooperation; (4) democracy, human rights and civil society promotion; and (5) international education cooperation. The EU identifies its comparative advantage through cost–benefit analyses and seeks to enhance its attractiveness by offering its allies to Central Asia, while excluding other, present actors. That the EU is often outmanoeuvred does not diminish this subtle yet discernible geopolitical conduct.

A Diversification Strategy for South Asia

A Diversification Strategy for South Asia

India’s Grand Strategy in East Asia in the Era of COVID-19

Since the election of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in May 2014, India’s approach to East Asia has changed, principally in response to pressures exerted by China. The Modi government inherited an East Asia strategy that combined a push for greater diplomatic and economic linkages with the region, an effort to improve Sino-Indian relations through a mix of engagement and deterrence, and a strengthening of security ties with the United States (US) and its allies. During its first three years in office, this paper argues that the Modi government stuck with this approach but attempted to pursue it more energetically as well as to assert India’s interests more clearly and forcefully in interactions with Beijing. After the Doklam standoff in 2017, however, India was pushed to assume a more clearly competitive stance, despite concerns about the reliability of Donald J. Trump’s new administration in Washington, China’s growing belligerence towards India and the rest of the region, and the impact of COVID-19. This stance entails both internal and external balancing, and a push for greater economic self-reliance that implies some decoupling from China, but which also has implications for India’s relations with other countries in East Asia.

The paradox of competing connectivity strategies in Asia

Competing connectivity strategies are a core component of geopolitics in the twenty-first century – from China’s Belt and Road Initiative to Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy. To demonstrate the multifaceted consequences of the new multiplicity of connectivity strategies, we propose a conceptual distinction between two forms of competition among connectivity projects: the commonly addressed horizontal competition between central state-driven connectivity strategies and the less explored vertical competition between existing or potential connectivity schemes below and above the level of the nation state. We contend that although typically targeting differing forms of connectivity, strategies across levels of governance are not necessarily complementary. To the contrary, the geopolitical nature of relatively new and nation-state-driven strategies can also severely undermine sustainable intra-state connectivity. By way of illustration, we examine competing connectivity investments in the Bay of Bengal, a subregion of South Asia between the two Asian rivals India and China. Driven at least partly by horizontal competition, centrally devised and executed connectivity strategies oftentimes crowd out pre-existing connectivity based on subnational initiatives or transnational societal linkages. To fully assess contemporary connectivity investments in Asia, future scholarship should take account of the challenges and complications along both dimensions of competing connectivity strategies.

Features of the US Foreign Policy Towards the Central Asian States

The article examines the features of the US foreign policy towards the Central Asian states in the post-bipolar period. The imperatives and constants, as well as the transformation of Washington’s Central Asian policy, have been characterized. It is shown that five Central Asian states have been in the focus of American foreign policy over the past thirty years. In the process of shaping the US foreign policy in Central Asia, the presence of significant reserves of energy and mineral resources in the region was of great importance. Therefore, rivalry for Caspian energy resources and their transportation routes came to the fore. In addition to diversifying transport and logistics flows and supporting American companies, the US energy policy in Central Asia was aimed at preventing the restoration of Russia’s economic and political influence, as well as countering the penetration of China, which is interested in economic cooperation with the countries of the region. During the period under review, the following transformation of mechanisms and means of Washington’s policy in the Central Asian direction was observed: the policy of “exporting democracy”; attempts to “nurture” the pro-American elite; striving to divide states into separate groups with permanent “appointment” of leaders; involvement in a unified military system to combat terrorism; impact on the consciousness of the population in order to destabilize geopolitical rivals; building cooperation on a pragmatic basis due to internal difficulties and external constraints. Central Asian states sympathized with the American course because of their interest in technology and investment. At the same time, these states in every possible way distanced themselves from the impulses of “democratization” from Washington. Kazakhstan was a permanent regional ally of the United States, to which Uzbekistan was striving to join. The second echelon in relations with the American side was occupied by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. A feature of the positions of the Central Asian countries is the maximum benefit from cooperation with Washington while building good-neighborly relations with Russia and China, which is in dissonance with the regional imperatives of the United States. In the future, the American strategy in Central Asia will presumably proceed from the expediency of attracting regional allies and stimulating contradictions in order to contain geopolitical rivals in the region.

Trump’s strategy in South Asia: Afghanistan’s Gordian knot

ABSTRACT This article examines President Donald Trump's South Asia Strategy, which places Afghanistan in a broader regional context. During Bush and Obama’s administrations, the regional policy was Afghanistan–Pakistan (Af-Pak) centric, and while under Trump’s regime (2017–2021), Afghanistan, Pakistan and India seemed to be given more weight. The United States (US), a leading proponent of regional security in Afghanistan, has found itself in a difficult situation while making a balancing choice between regional adversaries such as the Sino-Pak Axis and India, whose conflicting interests in Afghanistan have always created a Gordian Knot-like problem. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, some competing views emerged with regard to the practicability of Trump’s policy. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to examine the following question: Would Trump have been able to cut the Gordian knot if he had achieved his strategic objective of peace and regional security in Afghanistan?

Organisational change towards LGBTQ+ inclusion in hospitality and tourism: Managerial perspectives

The economic significance of LGBTQ+ inclusion has been globally recognised by the hospitality and tourism sectors. This study aimed to explore how hospitality and tourism businesses promote LGBTQ+ inclusion and identify challenges in implementing LGBTQ+ inclusive strategies in Asia. By using a qualitative approach with pragmatic paradigm, this study conducted in-depth interviews with 10 senior-level executives in corporations that play a prominent role in promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion across hospitality and tourism sectors. An LGBTQ+ inclusion model was also developed based on ‘unfreeze-change-(re)freeze ’ theory to further understand organisational change with nonlinear, interconnected, interactive and iterative orientations. Thematic and document analyses identified four essential elements of change, namely, policies and structures, internal communication, learning and development and public engagement. Management support was also identified as an effective moderator for improving the operationalisation of the model.

Analysis of the implementation of the Central Asia water&amp;energy program in the framework of new EU strategy for Central Asia

The recently launched European Union (EU) Strategy for Central Asia is expected to continue activities that were not completed during the implementation of the previous strategy on the basis of already existing successes and achievements, gaps will be filled and cooperation in emerging new areas and spheres will be established. In the framework of the New Strategy, the Central Asia Water & Energy Program (CAWEP) was implemented to help the Central Asian countries strengthen their energy and water security through knowledge exchange, analytical work, policy advice, and project preparation. The article will be focused on the analysis of implementation of the CAWEP in Central Asian states. CAWEP has been implemented since 2009. Therefore, there are goals reached successfully and projects that need to be worked on further. The article will discuss how the program is being realized in each Central Asian state and what actions have already been done under the program. Key words: CAWEP, Central Asia, European Union, World Bank.

The new EU strategy for Central Asia one year later: fears and wishes

The EU adopted a new strategy for Central Asia and that was adopted in July 2019 in Bishkek. One year later it is necessary to evaluate what is written there and if it is useful or not. Although the states of that region are very different among them, as the impact of the EU strategy, it is possible to depict a general outlook. This can be useful for the authorities in Brussels whether to reorient the strategy or to maintain the course. In the following pages, there is a description of the main goals set by the EU strategy and an analysis of the results during this strange year affected by Covid-19. Besides that, it is necessary to talk a little bit about the role played by the other main competitors at that area (China, Russia and the USA) and about the economic and political developments in the region. As a resolute, the conclusions of this research are very clear: the EU wants to promote stable political systems and Human Rights friendly as well as developed economies in its neighbourhood and beyond for security and trade reasons. Some researchers and politicians accused EU of revive the colonialism as the EU speaks about its “economic leverage” for democratisation purposes or about its normative power. Key words: Central Asia, European Union, New Strategy, Security, Energy, Human Rights.

Chinese Grand Strategies in Central Asia: The Role of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Belt and Road Initiative

Central Asia has long emerged as a hotspot for both the regional and extra-regional powers for two main reasons: its geopolitical location in the middle of Eurasia between Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Russia and China, and their abundant and mostly unexplored natural resources. Sitting on huge untapped hydrocarbon potentials the Central Asian geographical entity in recent years has offered enormous opportunity and appeal for global countries and emerged as a grand chessboard for regional and extra-regional players. China is one such new pole in the new great game without which any geopolitical and geo-economic debate on Central Asia would be incomplete. With this prelude, this article attempts to analyse China's rise in Central Asia and its strategies to strengthen its position in the heartland region by discarding the much-hyped great game thesis and argues that China’s rise is unparallel and unmatched as testified by the recent Belt and Road Initiative of Beijing

Reframing East Asia: hegemony and soft power in U.S. media discourse

ABSTRACT East Asia has rarely been an object of media framing studies, despite its coherent cultural heritage and political importance. Seizing upon the media’s intensive attention on the Pivot to Asia Strategy of the Obama administration, this study looked into the U.S. media’s framing of East Asia and how it has changed over time. A mixed-method analysis of editorials and op-ed articles of U.S. national newspapers between 1997 and 2013 identified two contrasting macro frames. The ideological frame that reflects U.S. hegemonic interest has been gradually replaced by the transactional frame as the dominant frame of East Asia. Under the transactional frame, the media were less likely than under the ideological frame to highlight the values such as democracy, human rights, and free economic market. In each issue-specific frame, focus shifted from maintaining global status quo to regional balance of power, from global free market to bilateral economic competition. Implications on the recent foreign policy developments are discussed.

Diagnostic Surveillance, Molecular Epidemiology and Phylogenetic Analyses of Rabies Virus Strains in Mali

Rabies is a highly infectious and vaccine preventable disease of humans and animals which is transmitted by dogs. There has been a breadth of emphasis regarding rabies elimination strategies in Asia and Africa due to highly endemic status of rabies in these states. Diagnostic surveillance system is operated by Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) only in the capital city of Mali, and hence other cities are at high risk of rabies due to lack of diagnostic labs and reporting mechanism. Therefore, present study has been designed to evaluate the suitability of diagnostic methods of rabies for characterization of circulating rabies virus (RABV) isolates in Mali. Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Rapid Immunochromatographic Diagnostic Test (RIDT) and Fluorescent antibody test (FAT) were performed on these 18 brain samples which were previous submitted to the CVL in 2017. Out of these 18 samples, only 16 (88%) were positive for RABV through FAT. These 16 positive samples were processed through RT-PCR and RIDT tests, and both tests further confirmed 15 (93.75%) and 7 (43.75%) samples positive for RABV. Positive samples generated from RT-PCR were sequenced using Sanger sequencing method at Inqaba Biotec and further subjected to phylogenetic analysis. All the sequences analysed by Blastn shared at least 93.5% nucleotide identity to the rabies nucleoprotein gene thereby confirming RABV infection of dogs in Mali. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all the sequences belonged to the Africa 2 lineage of which 5 were connected to the sub-lineage H, 4 to the sub-lineage F and 2 to the sub-lineage G. The sensitivity of RIDT was low as compared to FAT, while the genetic characterization of the RABV confirmed previous findings of the circulation of the sub-lineages H, F and G belonging to the Africa 2 lineage in Mali. In conclusion, RT-PCR could be used together with FAT for the detection and genetic characterization of RABV in Mali. Further studies using large number of samples are required to validate the suitability of the new RIDT for the diagnosis of rabies in Mali.

Shaping New Interregionalism: The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Beyond

The article examines the theoretical concept of interregionalism in the context of the evolving framework between the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As the EU’s first free trade agreement (FTA) with an ASEAN country, the EU-Singapore FTA is a pathfinder agreement that signifies a new phase of interregionalism and the EU’s new Asia strategy after the Treaty of Lisbon. The article argues that the innovative designs of the EU-Singapore FTA will shape the normative development of EU-ASEAN relations in the post-pandemic era. It also cautions that a comparative analysis of EU and US agreements reveals deficiencies in the FTA that requires remedies. To buttress the contention, key provisions on ASEAN cumulative rules of origin, banking and legal services and non-tariff barriers are analyzed in light of contemporary Asian agreements. The research further provides insight into the effectiveness of new-generation rules on geographical indications, competition, and investor-state arbitration and mediation. Hence, the findings contribute to the understanding of interregionalism and the EU’s Asia-Pacific trade and investment agreements from global and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Contemporary Chinese Strategy In East And Southeast Asia: Beijing’s Discourse And Development Finance Since The 2000s

Contemporary Chinese Strategy In East And Southeast Asia: Beijing’s Discourse And Development Finance Since The 2000s

A Diversification Strategy for South Asia

A Diversification Strategy for South Asia