The Long Peace of East Asia

by Timo Kivimäki, Emilian Kavalski

Overview

During the past three decades, East Asia has been more peaceful than Europe, the Americas or any continent, in terms of battle deaths per capita. When generating theories on peace and war, studies almost never look at the experiences of East Asia. Since East Asia is a spectacular case of pacification, and since it has not contributed much to our theories of peace and conflict, The Long Peace of East Asia is an important book for studies on peace and war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472422316
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	05/28/2014
Series:	Rethinking Asia and International Relations
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Timo Kivimäki is Professor of international relations with particular expertise in peace and conflict studies at the University of Bath. Previously he has held professorships at the University of Helsinki, University of Lapland, and at the University of Copenhagen. Professor Kivimäki has also been director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (Copenhagen) and the Institute of Development Studies of the University of Helsinki. In addition to purely academic work Professor Kivimäki has been a frequent consultant to the Finnish, Danish, Dutch, Russian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Swedish governments, as well as to several UN and EU organizations on conflict and terrorism. He was President Martti Ahtisaari's (mediators) adviser in the Aceh peace talks, and the initiator of the West Kalimantan peace process, led by Indonesia's Vice President, Jusuf Kalla. Dr Kivimäki's book, Can Peace Research Make Peace? was published by Ashgate in 2012.

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; Aim and concepts; Theoretical premises of the argument; The phenomenon to be explained: the long peace of East Asia; The main argument: the contribution of the ASEAN/Chinese way to the long peace of East Asia; Developmentalism and the prevention of the onset of conflicts; Non-intervention and the prevention of the escalation of conflicts into wars; Face saving and the termination of conflicts; Generation of the successful ASEAN/Chinese approach; Will the long peace survive? How could it be made broader, positive and more sustainable?; What can the East Asian experience offer to theories of international relations, peace and conflicts?; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'In one fell swoop, backed by impressive data sets, Professor Timo Kivimaki methodically and empirically destroyed all arguments, and one might add, theoretical pretences about Asian Pacific Way or the ASEAN way. The results are clarity, irrefutability and sheer analytical precision; rather than mere belief in constructivism or culture as the predisposition of the region. Incidents of war are almost non-existent in East Asia. Those who believe that wars in the region are still thinkable have to face these evidences head on.' Phar Kim Beng, CEO Foundation of Research on Transformation, Malaysia 'Based on the experience of East Asia, this book develops peace research and political science generally by revealing several weaknesses in the theory of peace. The book is a remarkable and impressive achievement.' Lang Youxing, Zhejiang University, China

From the Publisher