{"title":"The EU-Japan security cooperation in defence of the liberal international order: achievements and limitations","authors":"Elena Atanassova-Cornelis, Eva Pejsova","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00740-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00740-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article examines the evolving EU-Japan security cooperation in the context of the deteriorating global security environment over the past decade with a focus on EU-Japanese efforts in upholding the Liberal International Order (LIO). Conceptually, the article builds on both partners’ vested interests and strong attachment to the LIO, and the rules and norms that underpin it, including the rule of law, multilateralism, and free trade. Concretely, it argues that the multiple security challenges that have emerged in the context of the contested LIO, namely great power competition and the relative decline of the USA, the rise of authoritarian regimes, and the emergence of hybrid threats, constitute a powerful driver for strengthening EU-Japan security cooperation. Within the security realm, maritime security, and cybersecurity and digital connectivity, as well as defence technology cooperation have been particularly important areas for the two partners in responding to the challenges to the LIO. The article also demonstrates that EU-Japanese joint responses in upholding the LIO face important constraints. Therefore, the future of the bilateral security cooperation will depend in many ways on both partners’ careful assessment of respective strategic priorities, resources, and limitations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"73 - 90"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147607200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From infrastructure space to network power: Chinese cross-border collaborative Special Economic Zones in Southeast Asia","authors":"Hong Liu, Chao Yao","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00738-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00738-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There is a growing scholarly attention to mega cross-border infrastructural projects in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through collaborative Special Economic Zones (SEZs). While existing literature has explored relationships between special zones, usually produced through preferential economic policies, and the outside region, few studies take a view beyond the static demarcation of SEZs. This paper utilizes network power framework through the lens of infrastructuralization to investigate the changing and diversified emphasis of China’s application of the SEZ model. It delves into the development processes of the China-invested Sihanoukville SEZ in Cambodia and the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park in Malaysia. The introduction of the Shenzhen model in the Sihanoukville SEZ brings in the idea and practice of administrative reconfiguration, and the zone becomes a constitutive part of the infrastructure that channels the planning codes into Cambodia. In comparison, with limited space for overseas developers, the zone in Malaysia serves as the infrastructure to secure logistics alternatives in the transnational production network. By investigating the SEZs' multi-faceted process of infrastructuralization, we argue that the SEZs constitute a key hub of the interactive networks and simultaneously an integral part of the channel for cross-border circulation of capital, people, ideas, technical standards, and practices. By transcending conventional territorial boundaries and integrating zoning codes with logistical infrastructures, China has effectively turned SEZs into nodes of both domestic urbanization and transnational power network entanglements. The Chinese model demonstrates the potential of zones to operate beyond enclave logics and instead function as strategic assemblage that rewrite state-market relations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 2-3","pages":"263 - 284"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00738-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Toward a Eurasian security complex? The two Koreas’ entanglement in the Ukraine war and the conjoining of European and Asian security","authors":"Yang Xiangfeng","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00742-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00742-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>How have the two Koreas reacted to the Ukraine war? How has the war changed the security dynamics in Northeast Asia? Of all the security maneuvers undertaken by various states, North Korea’s dispatch of tens of thousands of soldiers to fight for Russia stands out as one of the most audacious. Meanwhile, the significance of South Korea—a vital supplier of weaponry to Ukraine’s neighbors unsettled by the war—should not be underestimated. To understand the strategic calculations shaping the behavior of the Koreas, we adopt a holistic approach that considers both their associations with great powers and the regional dynamics. North Korea’s military intervention was motivated by a desire to establish superiority over the South and to reduce its dependence on China—an opportunity that Moscow seized during its time of need for external support. South Korea, on the other hand, has had to balance the strategic imperative of not antagonizing Russia with mounting Western pressure. The two Koreas’ disparate entanglements amply attest to the growing security interconnection between East Asia and Europe—two geostrategic theaters hitherto conventionally considered separate. With Donald Trump’s erratic trade and foreign policies, further integration into a Eurasian security complex may be spurred by unpredictable interactions among the major actors concerning the Ukraine war, Korean affairs, and Taiwan.</p>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"265 - 281"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00742-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Political convergence between the EU and ASEAN: are they growing more alike in the Indo-Pacific?","authors":"Aleš Karmazin, Guangyu Qiao-Franco, Michal Kolmaš","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00741-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00741-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In reaction to recent challenges to the liberal international order and the shifts in the global balance of power, the EU has formulated several new foreign policy strategies and visions, including “A Strategic Compass” and the “EU Indo-Pacific Strategy”, and has sought to strengthen global partnerships with like-minded partners around the world. ASEAN has been identified as one of the crucial players with whom the EU should foster international cooperation, while the EU has also become more important for ASEAN. This paper assesses the convergence between ASEAN and the EU in the Indo-Pacific since the early 2020s by examining similarities and connections between the two blocs in terms of their normative visions, interests and practical steps and considering how they perceive each other. We argue that although strategic convergence is increasingly visible in normative, discursive and diplomatic realms, on-the-ground political cooperation falls behind. We identify the noticeable potential for political practice between the two organizations to “catch up” as well as some deeper limits.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"91 - 106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yunheng Zhou, Weizhen Wang, Yiming Chen, Jiaai Tian, Kevin Tu
{"title":"Evaluating Eurasian countries’ global energy governance: a framework for analysis","authors":"Yunheng Zhou, Weizhen Wang, Yiming Chen, Jiaai Tian, Kevin Tu","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00743-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00743-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Energy is the driving force of modern civilization. This paper introduces a global energy governance index (GEGI) based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to evaluate and compare Global Energy Governance (GEG) performance among 48 Eurasian nations. The GEGI elucidates the disparities among nations in governance outcomes, closely linked to national income levels and the availability of energy resources. The highest rankings are predominantly held by affluent, resource-rich countries, succeeded by prosperous nations with limited energy assets. Following these are middle-income countries that possess a moderate supply of resources, whereas low- and middle-income nations are relegated to the lower tiers due to their inadequate resource endowments. The international community should focus on eliminating energy poverty, fostering energy security among importers and exporters, and maintaining strong relations among major powers in Eurasia, particularly between China and the EU, to effectively address the global energy and climate crisis.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 2-3","pages":"193 - 208"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Major European members’ diverging strategies under NATO’s Indo-Pacific pivot","authors":"Bing Wei, Feng Liu","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00739-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00739-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>NATO’s Indo-Pacific pivot, primarily driven by the United States, marks a significant strategic shift. However, major European NATO members express differing views and adopt varied strategic approaches to this shift. This article explores the contrasting responses of the UK, France, and Germany to NATO’s Indo-Pacific pivot. While the UK has strongly supported the strategy as part of its ‘Global Britain’ agenda and its alliance with the US, France has pursued an active Indo-Pacific role to safeguard its overseas territories and economic interests. Germany, on the other hand, exhibits cautious engagement, prioritizing European security and economic ties with China. The article integrates “Status” into the “Autonomy-Security” trade-off model of asymmetric alliances to explain these divergent responses. The standard “Autonomy-Security” trade-off model posits that autonomy and security are the primary benefits members gain from an alliance. However, it overlooks the fact that some members regard status as a significant objective. The pursuit of status influences changes in these two benefits, which in turn affects members’ behavior within the alliance. We argue that, faced with the security threat from Russia, these three countries are compelled to support NATO’s Indo-Pacific pivot in exchange for security guarantees. However, their differing quests for status result in varying levels of support: the UK aligns with US leadership, France pursues its Indo-Pacific ambitions, and Germany focuses on maintaining autonomy within Europe. The article concludes that while NATO’s Indo-Pacific strategy is likely to endure, its trajectory will depend on the evolving dynamics among major players in the European security landscape — the US, Russia, and Europe, as well as the balance European states strike among three major objectives — autonomy, security, and status.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"193 - 214"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147607207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reassessing China’s economic power in Southeast Asia during the 2010 s: insights from the nexus of FDI-driven manufacturing and GVC trade","authors":"Yoon Ah Oh","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00735-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00735-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Southeast Asia’s primary foreign policy challenge amid the intensifying US-China rivalry is commonly framed as a pursuit of neutrality, which is premised on the region’s economic dependence on China and its security reliance on the USA. While widely accepted, the economic side of this framing largely rests on the assumption that China’s economic dominance in the region is indisputable. This article challenges this assumption by reassessing China’s role in Southeast Asia’s manufacturing sector during the 2010s. Empirical evidence shows that, while China was the region’s dominant supplier at the time, its role as an investor with key decision-making power in production networks remained limited. In this article, to better make sense of these results, a typology of sourcing relations centered on the alignment between foreign assemblers and their suppliers was developed, drawn from the FDI and GVC approaches. Two case studies illustrate key outcome categories involving Thailand and Vietnam. The findings suggest that China's economic position in SE Asia during the 2010s was more limited than commonly assumed, though this may be changing with the emergence of new technologies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 2-3","pages":"349 - 367"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00735-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A ‘network power shift’ or up the value chain? Japan’s changing role in Asian political economy","authors":"Nikolay Murashkin, Olesya Emelyanova","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00733-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00733-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The goal of this article is to trace the evolution of Japan’s role in Southeast and South Asian political economy in the 2000s–2010s to understand how Japan’s previously established network power in Asian supply chains has changed amid much-discussed power shifts in the region. The increasing number of emerging and rising regional powers induces Japan to search for new approaches to support strong economic ties with the partners. Some of Japan’s approaches may seek to reflect the needs of the country’s partners, to maintain an image of a responsible stakeholder, while others include trade-offs regarding participation in emerging blocs and continuation of foreign economic policy based on national interests, as formulated by different domestic policy constituencies. The importance of network connections with Southeast Asia (SEA) and adjacent countries such as Bangladesh is determined by the region’s sustained growth potential, Japan’s continuing export-oriented economy and its attempts to stay relevant, while remaining a core node of regional value chains. Domestically, Japan’s reliance on export-led development has implications for debates on neoliberal policies and state capitalism inside Japan proper. Internationally, we seek to elucidate how Japan keeps pursuing its national interests in regional economic policy, while maintaining its existing geopolitical alignments amid increasingly networked regional security. We examine Japan’s policy initiatives and contextualise them within our analysis of trade and investment flows to clarify cooperation priorities and to identify shifts in Japan’s network power in the region.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 2-3","pages":"239 - 261"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Candice A. Wray, Chieh Wang, Yu-Hsuan Wang, David C. McConville
{"title":"How do international students adjust to new cultural environments? A qualitative study of international students’ experience in Asian universities","authors":"Candice A. Wray, Chieh Wang, Yu-Hsuan Wang, David C. McConville","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00734-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00734-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Research on international students’ study experience has predominantly focused on host countries in Western contexts. This study addresses the need for qualitative research on international students’ experience in the Asian context. Using the <i>U</i>-curve model and psychological contract theory, this study examined the adjustment challenges and cognitive schema of international master’s degree students at two universities in Taiwan. The results showed that psychological contract theory is important in explaining the socio-emotional shifts across the <i>U</i>-curve. We present a five-stage model of adjustment with psychological contract embedded as an intraphase mental framework that guides how students interpret their experiences. Additionally, evidence indicated that the pre-arrival stage plays a critical role in the adjustment process. Furthermore, this study found differences in adjustment between Asian and non-Asian international students. While Asian students encounter social adjustment challenges, non-Asian students encounter challenges with academic adjustment and communication etiquette.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"23 2-3","pages":"171 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145196234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evolving concept of strategic autonomy in Europe and Asia: the role of US restraint and simultaneity of conflicts","authors":"Kuyoun Chung","doi":"10.1007/s10308-025-00736-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10308-025-00736-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article analyzes how recent conflicts have influenced strategic choices in Europe and East Asia, contrasting the European Union (EU)’s persistent yet uncertain inclination toward strategic autonomy with East Asian allies’ increasing alignment with the USA. Key events, such as Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, China’s military activities in the Taiwan Strait, and the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict, are interpreted as attempts to disrupt the existing international order. In East Asia, South Korea and Japan have strengthened their cooperation with the USA, evident in frameworks such as the ROK-US-Japan trilateral partnership and the Quad, to address these emerging threats. In contrast, while EU countries maintain their alignment with the USA, they continue to display an ambiguous inclination toward strategic autonomy, despite ongoing conflicts and an expanding US military presence in Europe. This article argues that the EU’s pursuit of strategic autonomy is more significantly influenced by gradual shifts in US grand strategy than by concerns regarding a potential return of former President Trump. Moreover, the EU’s distinctive response is shaped by its unique historical experiences and assurance institutions, differing from those of its East Asian allies. </p></div>","PeriodicalId":45680,"journal":{"name":"Asia Europe Journal","volume":"24 on","pages":"27 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10308-025-00736-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}