{"title":"Electoral manipulation or astute electoral strategy? Explaining the results of Pakistan’s 2018 Election","authors":"H. Javid, M. Mufti","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1855033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1855033","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The focus of this article is to explain the outcome of Pakistan’s 2018 Election, which is only the second successful transfer of power from one civilian government to another after completing a full five-year term. The PTI (Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf) emerged victorious with a greater majority than was predicted, soundly defeating the incumbent ruling party PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz). We question why an incumbent governing party that had been delivering on its campaign promises and was generally perceived to be performing well lost the election to PTI, a newer and more inexperienced party. We make a nested argument in this paper: had an uneven playing field not been created in the pre-poll phase due to reported interference by the military and the media in the formation of public opinion, so-called electables would not have defected to the PTI in large numbers. It is in the context of this broader political environment that PTI’s electoral strategy to accept these defecting politicians and select them as candidates paid-off, earning the party an electoral majority.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125646670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction: Suppressed and Subjected: Rohingya People in Asia Today","authors":"M. Haque, P. Chambers","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1842957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1842957","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Introduction to this Special Issue explains who the Rohingya people are, their relevance with regard to this Special Issue, why it focuses upon their experiences in Asia today, how Covid-19 has affected them and what might be their future. It also presents summaries of each of the papers in the Special Issue.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125462267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peacebuilding in Thailand’s Deep South and in Myanmar/Burma: the dynamic roles of Muslim minorities in conflict societies","authors":"Srisompob Jitpiromsri, M. Haque, P. Chambers","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1843216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1843216","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There are few if any comparative studies of Thailand’s Deep South and Burma/Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis. Both cases are intriguing as they have similar characteristics, while nuanced by distinctive contexts and political consequences. In this article, the comparative analysis of crisis issues in the two countries concentrates on history, policy responses of governments, and peace processes. Burma/Myanmar and Thailand are Buddhist majority countries with different approaches of national integration. Based on a long history of independence, Malay Muslims of Thailand’s Deep South have always been disturbed by intensive assimilation policies, but their right to Thai citizenship has never been legally compromised. On the contrary, Rohingya people have been excluded from Burma/Myanmar’s national integration. The Thai state uses both violence and persuasion, but the peace process tends to integrate into the hierarchy and power of military domination. On the other hand, Burma/Myanmar’s conflict management is highly suppressive and exclusive. Thailand’s southern peacebuilding involves expanding state-building and illiberal peace, while Burma/Myanmar’s conflict management policy in Rakhine State is much higher on the scale of authoritarian “peace.”","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125730679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Puangchon unchanam, royal capitalism: wealth, class, and monarchy in Thailand","authors":"P. Chambers","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1838770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1838770","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123807119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Repatriation for Rohingya asylum seekers in Indonesia: a durable but almost impossible solution","authors":"Heru Susetyo, P. Chambers","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1833414","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1833414","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Rohingya are among multiple refugees and asylum seekers who have arrived in Indonesia without any certainty of their futures. For most Rohingya refugees, Indonesia is a transit country, where they register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Refugee Agency before being allowed to relocate to third countries. Indonesia did not sign the 1951 Convention on Refugee Status and does not officially accept refugees for permanent resettlement. Refugees and asylum-seekers reaching Indonesia arrive there in several circumstances. Some are fleeing oppression, others have run out of money, others are involved in human-trafficking, and still others have become stranded on Indonesia’s beaches. There are three options for Rohingya people stranded in Indonesia: repatriation to Myanmar, reintegration to Indonesia, or seeking asylum in third countries (resettlement). However, the Indonesian government believes that a durable solution for the Rohingya in Indonesia is repatriation or resettlement. Based on historical traces and international law, Rohingya should have the absolute right to return to Myanmar. However, in practice, this is difficult. The attitude of the Myanmar regime, distrust of the Rohingya people toward Myanmar’s government, and lack of support from neighboring ASEAN countries are among the reasons why this option is particularly challenging.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127203435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stranded Rohingya in “No-Man’s Land” between Myanmar and Bangladesh","authors":"M. Haque","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1827181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1827181","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Since August 2017, the exacerbation of violence and military operations in the northern townships of Rakhine State, where the majority of Rohingya have resided, has led more than a million Rohingya refugees to flee across the border into Bangladesh. Around 6,000 Rohingya are living in bleak, makeshift conditions in \"no-man’s land\" on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, a place known as Zero Point. The Rohingya here have not been given refugee status, as the area in which they have been sheltering for two years now is officially under Myanmar control. On the other side of a canal, a mere few meters away, is the Tambru area, which lies in Bangladeshi territory. The International Committee for the Red Cross and Bangladesh Red Crescent Society have been conducting humanitarian activities for these forcibly displaced people. Despite their support, life in the \"no-man's land\" is grim and no facilities exist except for food and temporary shelter. In addition, stranded Rohingya often face intimidation by the Myanmar border guards. It is a unique case study to understand the stranded people in “no man’s land” and their struggle for existence. This paper is based on interviews conducted with displaced Rohingya and concerned officials, as well as documentary analysis and observation.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"62 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129170332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Zheng-He’s new voyage: The BRI and the three impasses of the Chinese Sonderweg’s new temporal phase","authors":"Y. E. Ozigci","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1812311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1812311","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract China’s opening and reform process was constituted as a temporal phase of its Sonderweg, centered on the symbiosis with the West. It also included a centrifugal effect stemming from the “unipolar” appearance of the international system, yet temporalised differently from the retentional-protentional “now” of the symbiosis. China's symbiosis-phase can be defined as a modus vivendi, conducted on selective and partial integration through “reframing” and rendering its authoritarianism a guarantee for the sustainability of the selected symbiotic elements which in turn shielded the authoritarianism that Beijing de facto equated to “authenticity.” However, a new temporal phase of the Sonderweg emerged when the centrifugal effect was transferred from its anticipatory horizon into the retentional-protentional field, as the main elements of the symbiosis faced erosion. This re-temporalisation engendered a systemic challenge through expansionism and promotion of the authoritarianism with a “multipolarist” discourse . The BRI appears as the most visible, encompassing and transformative content framework of this new phase. However, it faces three serious impasses: An inter-multipolarist one in the “Belt” area, a systemic one with the emerging reaction and mobilization of the democracies in the “Road” area and one pertaining to the viability of the BRI due to its conduct.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121350257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From appeasement to soft balancing: the duterte administration’s shifting policy on the South China Sea imbroglio","authors":"Renato Cruz de Castro","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1818910","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1818910","url":null,"abstract":"ARTICLE This article examines the shift in Philippine policy on China under the Duterte Administration from appeasement to soft balancing. After his election in mid-2016, President Rodrigo Duterte adopted an appeasement policy vis-à-vis China’s expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea. However, China has not fulfilled its end of the bargain. It failed to inject public investment into the Philippines’ massive infrastructure-building program, and to moderate the behavior of its military units operating in the South China Sea. This has prompted the Duterte Administration to adopt a policy of soft balancing. It pursues this policy by (a) hedging on its alliance with the U.S.; (b) fostering a security partnership with Japan; and (c) pushing for the immediate passage of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Code of Conduct (CoC) of the Parties in the South China Sea. In conclusion, this paper argues that the Duterte Administration’s current objective is to restrain Chinese aggressive behavior in the South China Sea by maintaining its alliance with the U.S., fostering a security partnership with Japan, and playing a more active role in the ASEAN.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131442937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rohingya: A people Under Endless Tyranny","authors":"N. Islam","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1793631","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1793631","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Rohingya people have a long history of crisis. The crisis is not an issue of illegal immigration but of intolerance. The Rohingya have faced a continuous process of de-legitimization, systematic persecution and worsening abuses culminating in genocide. Since 1942, intermittent waves of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and other countries to escape persecution. The United Nations has described the Rohingya as the most persecuted people in the world. In 2017, hundreds and thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh when families were massacred, villages scorched, women gang-raped and babies thrown into the flames. The foremost priority of the Rohingya people is to return home in safety, in dignity and with justice. But they cannot return where genocide is still ongoing. There must be credible accountability to ensure victims see justice served and the cycle of violence is not repeated. For a permanent solution the root causes of the crisis must be addressed effectively. Their ethnic identity “Rohingya” and “full citizenship” must be legally recognized and restored. They should be able to peacefully coexist in Rakhine State as equals with their “collective rights’ on par with other ethnic nationalities of the Union of Myanmar.","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131306299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Statement of retraction: A marriage of convenience: Russia and U.S. Foreign Policy","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/00927678.2020.1739196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2020.1739196","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":392598,"journal":{"name":"Asian Affairs: An American Review","volume":"146 3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129789035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}