Asian Review of Political Economy最新文献

{"title":"Global South in transition: Geopolitical dynamics and development cooperation","authors":"Yongnian Zheng,&nbsp;Wei Ye","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This special issue explores the development trajectories of the Global South and how various regions of the Global South are navigating the increasingly complex geopolitical dynamics. Covering Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the collection examines both global and regional geopolitical rivalries and assesses their impact on development trajectories and cooperation in the Global South. The scope of this special issue ranges from the internal development of Global South countries and South-South cooperation to multilateral mechanisms such as BRICS. It spans traditional development sectors like infrastructure, trade, and finance, as well as emerging areas such as the digital economy and climate change. Collectively, these papers underscore that the Global South is far from a monolithic entity. Instead, it comprises a diverse constellation of actors that both collaborate and compete, actively and strategically navigating geopolitical dynamics to advance their own development goals. Geopolitics, both during the Cold War and in the contemporary era, has presented a dual dynamic of opportunities and challenges for the Global South. Crucially, however, the contemporary rise of the Global South diverges from the historical patterns of the Cold War. This synthesis reveals a Global South that is dynamic and heterogeneous, yet possesses an increasingly heightened capacity for strategic agency.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00089-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of the evolution of South-South Cooperation from the perspective of Southern Identity","authors":"Chen Shen,&nbsp;Lin Ren,&nbsp;Siru Chen","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We propose the term “Southern Identity” to encompass the concepts of the Third World, developing countries and the Global South, establishing a logical counterpart to Western Identity. The concepts of the Third World, developing countries and the Global South arose within a brief span of time, yet their usage frequency has varied substantially across different historical periods and international contexts. In contrast to Western Identity, Southern Identity seems to feature a certain degree of conceptual fluidity. To address this issue, we first sort out the debates on the stability and fluidity of identity in existing research, and theoretically explain the causes of the differences in the stability and fluidity of collective identities in the international community. Subsequently, we analyze the three-stage evolution of South-South Cooperation in the situation of post-war history: the Third World constructed its political identity through the Non-Aligned Movement yet witnessed its dissolution after the end of the Cold War; developing countries focused on the pursuit of economic equity, and their identity recognition faces dual challenges: external pressures from the West and internal development disparities; the Global South strengthened its subjectivity and consolidated Southern Identity by virtue of its enhanced economic strength and the practice of diverse roles. We argue that Southern Identity is a unified and continuous whole, whose stability hinges on the joint underpinning of its own values, subjectivity and institutionalization.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00088-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148750732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sino-Latin American cooperation on transportation infrastructure: characteristics and impacts","authors":"Ting Cao,&nbsp;Yuyun Li","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Since the twenty-first century, China and Latin American countries have continuously strengthened cooperation across political, economic, and cultural domains. Particularly since the extension of China's Belt and Road Initiative to the Latin American region, international assessments of China-Latin America cooperation have become polarized. Scholars from the United States and some Latin American countries view China's infrastructure cooperation in the region as a form of \"neocolonialism.\" This paper examines China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation between 2009 and 2023, employing South-South cooperation and postcolonial theoretical perspectives to analyze the characteristics of this cooperation and its socio-economic impacts on Latin American countries. The study concludes that China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation not only aligns with but also demonstrates innovation within the framework of South-South cooperation. However, this collaboration still faces numerous challenges, necessitating enhanced policy coordination and improved project design between China and Latin American countries to advance mutually beneficial cooperation in the future.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00081-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implications of the evolution of “Digital BRICS” for South-South cooperation","authors":"Yang Lu,&nbsp;Tingting Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Discourses surrounding the Global South and South-South cooperation have re-emerged in recent years. Meanwhile, the digital economy has become a strategic priority in global economic competition. This paper traces the evolution of “Digital BRICS”, which is a new and rapidly developing field of BRICS cooperation. It aims to identify new focal points for South-South cooperation in the evolving landscape, addressing the research gap linking the “Digital BRICS” initiative with South-South cooperation. Starting with an analysis of the key features of BRICS cooperation, this paper explores the achievements of “Digital BRICS”, identifies technical, institutional, and regulatory bottlenecks, and puts forward corresponding policy recommendations. Using both literature survey and case study methodologies, it conducts qualitative and comparative research from a historical perspective. Ultimately, this paper points out that the “Digital BRICS” platform could advance South-South cooperation in the realm of global digital governance. The resurgence of discourses surrounding the Global South and South-South cooperation has created a historic window of opportunity for “Digital BRICS”, however its development will also confront formidable challenges as political rivalry between East and West intensifies and global uncertainty surges.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00083-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"EU–China research cooperation under a “de-risking” framework: the securitisation of knowledge in EU science policy (2021–2025)","authors":"Yang Li,&nbsp;Ting Long","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Using developments in EU–China research cooperation between 2021 and 2025 as an empirical window, this article examines how the EU’s de-risking agenda is reconfiguring research governance through the securitisation of knowledge exchange. Drawing on securitisation theory and a qualitative analysis of publicly available EU policy documents—including the Horizon Europe regulation and participation rules (Articles 22(5)– (6)), the European Economic Security Strategy, and the 2024 Council Recommendation on enhancing research security—alongside Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) readouts and state-media commentaries, the article traces how “research security” is constructed and operationalised. It finds that EU actors increasingly frame knowledge flows with China as strategically sensitive, and translate this framing into a growing toolkit of eligibility rules, risk screening, and guidance on foreign interference and safeguarding. Empirically, the analysis identifies a dual trajectory at the level of governance: established cooperation architectures and dialogues largely persist, yet are increasingly overlaid with security-oriented constraints that tighten eligibility and risk parameters for collaboration. In parallel, Chinese actors mobilise counter-narratives of openness, reciprocity, and “opportunity rather than risk,” seeking to contest the legitimacy of EU securitising moves and to re-politicise the costs of over-securitisation. The article contributes to debates on geoeconomics and science diplomacy by specifying how de-risking is institutionalised in research governance, and by highlighting narrative contestation as a constitutive element of knowledge securitisation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00080-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148380580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI as skills governance: reconfiguring authority and ethics in China’s TVET reform","authors":"Guoying Lu,&nbsp;Sirui Han,&nbsp;Yike Guo","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Artificial intelligence has become increasingly embedded in technical and vocational education and training systems, reshaping not only teaching and learning practices but also the governance of skills formation. In contexts where vocational education is closely linked to labour-market regulation and national development strategies, AI-related platforms and data infrastructures play a growing role in defining competencies, evaluating performance, and steering institutional behaviour. In practice, however, many current reforms operate through digitalisation, data integration, and platformization that lay the institutional groundwork for more intensive AI governance. This article approaches AI-driven TVET reform as a transformation of skills governance rather than a technological upgrade. Drawing on theories of algorithmic governance, political economy, and sociotechnical systems, it develops a governance-oriented analytical framework that links ethical concerns to institutional arrangements. The framework is applied to China’s Smart Vocational Education initiative, understood as a platformized and data-driven reform assemblage through which AI governance is being built. The analysis shows that AI-related platforms function as governance infrastructures that coordinate vocational education with industrial priorities through data-driven standards, metrics, and decision systems. In the Chinese case, these governance effects arise not only from fully fledged AI applications but also from the platformization, standardisation, and data centralisation that make algorithmic intervention scalable. While these arrangements enhance system-level coordination and efficiency, they also generate significant tensions related to learner autonomy, teacher agency, data governance, transparency, and structural inequality across institutions and regions. Ethical challenges therefore arise not as abstract risks but as concrete governance problems embedded in platform design and responsibility allocation. By reframing AI in TVET as a problem of skills governance, this study contributes a context-sensitive framework for analysing the institutional and ethical implications of AI-driven reform. The findings from the Chinese case offer broader insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to balance efficiency, accountability, and educational values as AI becomes increasingly infrastructural to vocational education systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00082-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148236824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"China-India cooperation and competition in Sri Lanka under the “Belt and Road” Initiative","authors":"Letian Xie","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00077-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00077-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The close interaction between China and Sri Lanka has aroused strong opposition from India, which has acted to hedge against the Chinese influence in Sri Lanka, based on the consideration of establishing exclusive regional hegemony in the South Asian Indian Ocean and maintaining greater hostility to China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative with small and medium-sized countries in the South Asian Indian Ocean region. China-Sri Lanka cooperation is not targeted at any specific third party, and the two countries are always willing to carry out multilateral cooperation with any country that is willing to cooperate. In the future, when China and India can resolve their differences and reach a consensus on regional cooperation, the two sides can promote the high-quality development of connectivity in South Asia under the “Belt and Road” Initiative by welcoming Indian merchant ships to dock at the Hambantota Port, encouraging Chinese and Indian enterprises to invest in the Hambantota Park or settle in the Colombo Port City, and jointly providing humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. At its root, the normal development of the trilateral relations among China, India and Sri Lanka still requires China and India to reach a consensus on regional cooperation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00077-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148172605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forging Bangladesh's market state: The politics of state-led Neoliberalism under the Awami League (2009–2024)","authors":"Rubel Hossen","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00078-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00078-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The dominance of neoliberalism has restructured state functions globally and produced what scholars describe as a <i>\"market state\"</i>, whose legitimacy is increasingly grounded in the promotion of market-mediated opportunity and global competitiveness rather than direct welfare provision. This study examines how Bangladesh's state machinery gradually reshaped itself into a market-oriented order between 2009 and 2024 under the Awami League regime. Drawing on reports, academic work, and institutional data, the paper argues that privatization, large-scale infrastructure, and public–private partnerships fueled both rapid growth and deep social divides. While economic dynamism became the government's hallmark, widening inequality and ecological loss emerged as the project's underside. This study employs a longitudinal, qualitative case-study design using systematically triangulated secondary data. The study concludes that the Bangladeshi case exemplifies a distinct model of state-led neoliberalism, challenging the minimalist state ideal by demonstrating how state power can be leveraged to entrench market rule, resulting in a development trajectory marked by both impressive growth and high socio-ecological costs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00078-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147937993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geopolitical awakening in Africa: leveraging South–South cooperation in a multipolar world","authors":"Salum Mussa Haruna","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00079-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00079-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Africa’s engagement with the international system is undergoing a significant shift as states and regional institutions increasingly pursue strategic autonomy within an emerging multipolar order. This article examines how African actors leverage South–South cooperation and regional integration to advance developmental sovereignty and geostrategic diversification, moving beyond portrayals of the continent as a passive recipient of external influence. Drawing on qualitative document and policy analysis and a structured set of illustrative case studies—including China–Africa, India–Africa, Turkey/Gulf–Africa partnerships, and intra-African cooperation through African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and regional economic communities—the study traces how Africa is expanding its bargaining capacity, institutional coordination, and development-centred diplomacy. Particular attention is given to Tanzania as an illustrative site where sovereignty-oriented policy positioning and regional engagement reflect broader continental strategies. The findings suggest that while South–South cooperation can widen Africa’s strategic options and support development priorities, it also generates new risks of asymmetry, fragmentation, and dependency substitution if not managed through transparent governance and coordinated institutional frameworks. The article concludes that Africa’s growing agency in global governance depends on sustained regional cohesion, bargaining capacity, and knowledge sovereignty rather than on multipolarity alone.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00079-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147829436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Democratic decay by design: how political dynasties rewrite the rules of power in Indonesia?","authors":"Bambang Widiyahseno,&nbsp;Yusuf Adam Hilman,&nbsp;Samodra Wibawa","doi":"10.1007/s44216-026-00076-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44216-026-00076-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Contemporary political dynasties pose unprecedented challenges to democratic governance by developing sophisticated mechanisms that manipulate institutions while preserving electoral legitimacy. This study examines Indonesia's Jokowi era (2014–2024), where systematic content analysis of 847 media articles and elite interviews reveal \"adaptive dynastic politics\"—a distinct phenomenon transcending traditional patronage through contextual legitimacy construction, institutional hybridization, digital coordination, and strategic coalition management. The analysis documents Indonesia's democratic deterioration from 57/100 to 56/100 (Freedom House) through systematic dynastic consolidation. Constitutional engineering enabled family succession despite age requirements, while coordinated pressure achieved 81% parliamentary control and comprehensive digital operations commanded 90-billion-rupiah government resources. While these mechanisms proved highly effective, our findings also record significant counterbalancing forces from civil society, independent media, and judicial factions whose resistance—though largely unsuccessful—reveals the contested nature of this erosion. Process tracing establishes clear causal pathways connecting these adaptive mechanisms to measurable decline across democratic institutions, political competition, civil liberties, and electoral integrity. Adaptive dynastic politics differs fundamentally from democratic backsliding by strengthening rather than destroying beneficial institutions while systematically weakening threatening ones. The paper concludes by examining mechanism durability into the Prabowo-Gibran era, suggesting they have become structurally embedded and are being repurposed for new political ends, offering essential insights for understanding institutional manipulation across developing democracies worldwide.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100130,"journal":{"name":"Asian Review of Political Economy","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44216-026-00076-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147642638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}