Constructing a Safe Community: ASEAN and Regional Order: ASEAN and Regional Order

Author: Amita Acharya
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: In this groundbreaking study, the creative ways Southeast Asian nations and the ASEAN have addressed international security issues are rigorously argued. The book features a tight theoretical structure, comprehensive background information, and Amita Acharya is a rare scholar well-versed in security and regional studies. Acharya's work stands as one of the best, most engaging, and most comprehensive studies on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It provides compelling theoretical foundations for studying international relations through the lens of a security community. This book is a must-read for scholars interested in regional security, particularly in the role of norms and collective identity in the process of peaceful change. It is part of the "East West Press Translation Series."
This book is an empirical study of constructivism, using the Southeast Asian region as a case study. The author argues that inter-state cooperation is a socialization process where binding norms, through internalization, influence state behavior, gradually shaping identity and thereby producing positive, even transformative, impacts on international relations, ultimately leading states to adhere to the principle of peaceful coexistence. Applying constructivist theory to the order-building in Southeast Asia is a pioneering study. The author rigorously demonstrates in this book the creative ways ASEAN has addressed national and international security issues. It provides convincing theoretical foundations and abundant materials and case studies for studying international relations through the approach of a security community.