International relations of the Indo-pacific
Chapter 1
Through enculturation, a specific place comes into being, and territory gets its
political significance. So social action forms a specific place out of an abstract
space.
Three dimensions of enculturation:
1. Involves both material (economic flows) and ideational (perceptions/ideas)
aspects. These mutually condition each other.
2. Consists of both structural and agential aspects.
- Structural: established, complex issues that stem from an aggregation of
actions, whilst one action can hardly change this given structure. Like an
economic crisis derives from human actions, but one actor cannot simply
undo them by his individual decision.
- Agential: are represented by the wishes and practices of particular actors;
individuals or collective actors (like the state or international
organisations).
3. It is necessary to consider influences from within and from outside the
place (region) discussed.
European demarcations of Asia
In the middle ages, Europeans learned more about societies and cultures located
in Asia through their commercial exchanges on land- and sea trading routes,
Christian missionaries, colonialisation (European imperialism), and travels of
individuals. With emerging modern western sciences, Europe became more
closely associated with the idea of a Christian civilisation (contrasting non-
Christian Asia).
According to the definition of continents as a landmass separated by
oceans, Europe and Asia should be grouped as one continent. However this
didn’t fit the European view of Asia as being distinct in an identitarian
sense. This left us with the notion of Asia as the largest diverse continent
considering religion, ethnicity, culture and geopolitical wise.
Later on came a Eurocentric representation of the non-European world as
underdeveloped and inferior. This was sustained by using the discourse of
Orientalism, where (western) Europeans were seen as inventive, proactive,
rational, scientific, civilised, matured, self-controlled, and Asian (but also
African/indigenous) as ignorant, passive, irrational, child-like, barbaric, savage,
superstitious. So orientalism formed the coloniser’s model of the world, justifying
imperialism.
Asia is a European construct. Previously they identified as
- Little tradition: history/identity that unfolds at the everyday life of ordinary
people. So localized, everyday practices like local religious practices, oral
traditions and community-level social structures.
- Great tradition: large-scale systems of culture, religion, governance. Big
ideas that dominate. Like the caste system (divided people in hierarchical
1
, groups), and Confucianism that shaped society and identity, and became
institutionalized.
Lecture 1: The rise of the Indo-pacific and the evolving regional order
ASEAN (association of southeast Asian nations) countries: Brunei, Burma,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
Cultural essentialism: belief that cultures have fixed, inherent traits or
behaviours that define them. This is a pitfall as it overlooks the dynamic and
constructed nature of cultures, reduces complex social and historical dynamics to
stereotypes. It ignores diversity within cultural groups, it can perpetuate
exclusion/discrimination.
Orientalism is a specific manifestation of cultural essentialism. It is a framework
through which the west perceives and represents the East (Asia, Middle East,
North-Africa) as exotic, backward, and inferior.
It reflects a colonial mindset, reinforcing western dominance by portraying
the east as the other.
It relies on an oversimplified portrayal of Eastern cultures, leading to
unchanging stereotypes.
This perspective shapes literature, art, and academic discourse, serving as
a justification for imperialism and control over eastern societies.
Ontology and epistemology are the foundations of any social science, so also
International relations.
Two ontological positions:
1. Realism: reality can be objective and independent. It operates universally
and exists outside human perception. There is one objective, universal
truth that is absolute and discoverable. So the objective reality exists,
governed by universal laws.
2. Constructivism: Reality is subjective and socially constructed: reality is
shaped by human experiences and interactions. Truth is contextual,
relative and depends on individual/cultural perspectives. So knowledge is
actively constructed by individuals or communities.
Two epistemological positions:
1. Positivism/post-positivism: knowledge is objective, empirical, and
verifiable. It is based on facts, measured data, and universal truths. Post-
positivism accepts that knowledge may be fallible (can change) but strives
for objectivity. Reality is external and independent. So reality exists outside
human perception, with consistent facts discoverable through observation.
2. Interpretivism: knowledge is subjective, contextual and socially
constructed. It is shaped by cultural and individual contexts with truths
varying by perspective. Reality is also subjective and constructed, shaped
by experiences and interactions, and understood through the meanings
people assign to them.
Shifting nomenclature of the region. We call it different names; East Asia, Asia,
South Asia, ASia Pacific, Indo-Pacific. These terms are cultural/geographical
2
,constructs. They are socially constructed labels, not fixed categories. Moreover,
regions are shaped by enculturation: the process through which we adopt
cultural norms, values, and behaviours. So regions are defined through social
actions, not just borders.
Regions can be shaped from the inside (local factors), or outside (external
forces). They can be formed:
From the outside-in: European origins of Asia - how the concept of Asia was
first created by Europeans
From the inside-out: Asian acceptance - how Asians began to adopt the
European notion of Asia.
The Indo-pacific is a geo-political construct, with origins in oceanography. It is
socially constructed, and there are different interpretations of the term. There is
no shared identity constructed yet. So this concept is not yet truly meaningful,
but it is gaining more prominence. So the concept of the Indo-pacific is in the
making, with currently divergent geographical interpretations of what it entails.
The regional systems before global transformations (1800), so the period before
western colonisation.
Different entities have organized countries differently.
1. East Asia: more hierarchical, organized.
There is a sino-centric order: China was the dominant power, and
neighboring states engaged in a tributary system, acknowledging China’s
supremacy in exchange for trade and political legitimacy.
Tianxia (all under heaven) is used as a symbolic concept, contested by
regional estates like Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Siam. It asserted that
China was the center of civilization.
2. Southeast Asia: characterized by the Mandala system, which is a flexible,
overlapping spheres of influence rather than fixed borders. So the
structure and order is flexible and dynamic. Smaller kingdoms are aligned
with larger powers, and relationships are prioritized over fixed borders. So
no real territorial boundaries
3. South Asia: alternated between attempts by subcontinental empires to
unify the region, and periods dominated by smaller, coexisting kingdoms
without a dominant power. So a shifting political landscape.
After global transformations, colonization integrated Asian societies into a global
political order, forming part of a globalized international society. So colonized
polities lost control over their territories, leading to territorial boundaries being
shifted during post-colonial state-building. Only Thailand has not been colonized.
Region-building in response to western domination
Economic aspect: developmentalism came up as a response to
industrialisation and the new world economic structure in which Asia
became a peripheral actor.
political aspect: the post-colonial (or post-imperial) state is a counterpart
of rational state-building
Features of post-colonial states:
3
, They often prioritize internal threats to survival as much as external ones,
with borders frequently contested or unclear compared to traditional
sovereignty.
Their borders rarely align with the clear-cut Westphalian ideal, leading to
ongoing complexities in territorial control (sovereignty exceptions like
autonomous regions, disputed territories or quasi-independent entities).
Are often shaped by mixed influences, including imperial histories,
colonization, post-WWII modernization, and global (neo-)liberal norms.
Developmentalism emphasises the idea of prioritizing economic development
Cultural aspect
- Development of localism or anti-westernism. This emphasizes Asi’s
distinctiveness, blaming western influence for political and cultural
oppression. It highlights differences between Asia and Western identities,
seeking to reclaim Asia’s uniqueness.
- The Asian identity emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, during
modernization and transformation.
- A key concept is pan-Asianism: an intellectual movement emphasizing
intra-Asian connections, nationalism, anti-colonial liberation, and
sometimes imperialist or racial commonalities.
The regional order during the World Wars and Cold war
Japan’s imperialism and Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere: Japan
aimed to dominate Asia through territorial expansion, including Korea,
Manchukuo, and parts of Southeast Asia. Imperialism was defeated after
WWII.
Cold war divisions: Asis was split between US and Soviet-aligned states,
with internal conflicts between communists, nationalists and other factions
in China, Vietnam, and Korea.
Pan-Asianism: revived through efforts like Asian Relations Conference
(1947), the Bandung Conference (1855) and the formation of the
nonaligned movement (NAM) in 1961. This has a continued influence in
modern times, with people championing Asian solidarity, or ‘Asia for
Asians’ (this was mainly criticism of the US meddling in the region).
Emergent regionalisation and institutionalization: ASEAN established
(1967) after a few failed attempts. But it didn't make tangible progress
during the cold war.
South Asia during the cold war was different from other regions. The region
features more internal conflicts than conflicts based on superpowers.
Decolonisation and partition: following British India’s independence, India
and Pakistan emerged as separate states, with tensions central to regional
dynamics.
Some unique features:
Security conflicts were regional, and tied to decolonisation and state-
building, not about cold war superpower rivalries.
Cold war alliances had limited influence; India and Pakistan engaged with
the US and USSR but remained largely independent.
South Asia had limited integration with the global economy, with smaller
states closely tied to India economically and socially. India/Pakistan
developed close relations with China.
4
Chapter 1
Through enculturation, a specific place comes into being, and territory gets its
political significance. So social action forms a specific place out of an abstract
space.
Three dimensions of enculturation:
1. Involves both material (economic flows) and ideational (perceptions/ideas)
aspects. These mutually condition each other.
2. Consists of both structural and agential aspects.
- Structural: established, complex issues that stem from an aggregation of
actions, whilst one action can hardly change this given structure. Like an
economic crisis derives from human actions, but one actor cannot simply
undo them by his individual decision.
- Agential: are represented by the wishes and practices of particular actors;
individuals or collective actors (like the state or international
organisations).
3. It is necessary to consider influences from within and from outside the
place (region) discussed.
European demarcations of Asia
In the middle ages, Europeans learned more about societies and cultures located
in Asia through their commercial exchanges on land- and sea trading routes,
Christian missionaries, colonialisation (European imperialism), and travels of
individuals. With emerging modern western sciences, Europe became more
closely associated with the idea of a Christian civilisation (contrasting non-
Christian Asia).
According to the definition of continents as a landmass separated by
oceans, Europe and Asia should be grouped as one continent. However this
didn’t fit the European view of Asia as being distinct in an identitarian
sense. This left us with the notion of Asia as the largest diverse continent
considering religion, ethnicity, culture and geopolitical wise.
Later on came a Eurocentric representation of the non-European world as
underdeveloped and inferior. This was sustained by using the discourse of
Orientalism, where (western) Europeans were seen as inventive, proactive,
rational, scientific, civilised, matured, self-controlled, and Asian (but also
African/indigenous) as ignorant, passive, irrational, child-like, barbaric, savage,
superstitious. So orientalism formed the coloniser’s model of the world, justifying
imperialism.
Asia is a European construct. Previously they identified as
- Little tradition: history/identity that unfolds at the everyday life of ordinary
people. So localized, everyday practices like local religious practices, oral
traditions and community-level social structures.
- Great tradition: large-scale systems of culture, religion, governance. Big
ideas that dominate. Like the caste system (divided people in hierarchical
1
, groups), and Confucianism that shaped society and identity, and became
institutionalized.
Lecture 1: The rise of the Indo-pacific and the evolving regional order
ASEAN (association of southeast Asian nations) countries: Brunei, Burma,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
Cultural essentialism: belief that cultures have fixed, inherent traits or
behaviours that define them. This is a pitfall as it overlooks the dynamic and
constructed nature of cultures, reduces complex social and historical dynamics to
stereotypes. It ignores diversity within cultural groups, it can perpetuate
exclusion/discrimination.
Orientalism is a specific manifestation of cultural essentialism. It is a framework
through which the west perceives and represents the East (Asia, Middle East,
North-Africa) as exotic, backward, and inferior.
It reflects a colonial mindset, reinforcing western dominance by portraying
the east as the other.
It relies on an oversimplified portrayal of Eastern cultures, leading to
unchanging stereotypes.
This perspective shapes literature, art, and academic discourse, serving as
a justification for imperialism and control over eastern societies.
Ontology and epistemology are the foundations of any social science, so also
International relations.
Two ontological positions:
1. Realism: reality can be objective and independent. It operates universally
and exists outside human perception. There is one objective, universal
truth that is absolute and discoverable. So the objective reality exists,
governed by universal laws.
2. Constructivism: Reality is subjective and socially constructed: reality is
shaped by human experiences and interactions. Truth is contextual,
relative and depends on individual/cultural perspectives. So knowledge is
actively constructed by individuals or communities.
Two epistemological positions:
1. Positivism/post-positivism: knowledge is objective, empirical, and
verifiable. It is based on facts, measured data, and universal truths. Post-
positivism accepts that knowledge may be fallible (can change) but strives
for objectivity. Reality is external and independent. So reality exists outside
human perception, with consistent facts discoverable through observation.
2. Interpretivism: knowledge is subjective, contextual and socially
constructed. It is shaped by cultural and individual contexts with truths
varying by perspective. Reality is also subjective and constructed, shaped
by experiences and interactions, and understood through the meanings
people assign to them.
Shifting nomenclature of the region. We call it different names; East Asia, Asia,
South Asia, ASia Pacific, Indo-Pacific. These terms are cultural/geographical
2
,constructs. They are socially constructed labels, not fixed categories. Moreover,
regions are shaped by enculturation: the process through which we adopt
cultural norms, values, and behaviours. So regions are defined through social
actions, not just borders.
Regions can be shaped from the inside (local factors), or outside (external
forces). They can be formed:
From the outside-in: European origins of Asia - how the concept of Asia was
first created by Europeans
From the inside-out: Asian acceptance - how Asians began to adopt the
European notion of Asia.
The Indo-pacific is a geo-political construct, with origins in oceanography. It is
socially constructed, and there are different interpretations of the term. There is
no shared identity constructed yet. So this concept is not yet truly meaningful,
but it is gaining more prominence. So the concept of the Indo-pacific is in the
making, with currently divergent geographical interpretations of what it entails.
The regional systems before global transformations (1800), so the period before
western colonisation.
Different entities have organized countries differently.
1. East Asia: more hierarchical, organized.
There is a sino-centric order: China was the dominant power, and
neighboring states engaged in a tributary system, acknowledging China’s
supremacy in exchange for trade and political legitimacy.
Tianxia (all under heaven) is used as a symbolic concept, contested by
regional estates like Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Siam. It asserted that
China was the center of civilization.
2. Southeast Asia: characterized by the Mandala system, which is a flexible,
overlapping spheres of influence rather than fixed borders. So the
structure and order is flexible and dynamic. Smaller kingdoms are aligned
with larger powers, and relationships are prioritized over fixed borders. So
no real territorial boundaries
3. South Asia: alternated between attempts by subcontinental empires to
unify the region, and periods dominated by smaller, coexisting kingdoms
without a dominant power. So a shifting political landscape.
After global transformations, colonization integrated Asian societies into a global
political order, forming part of a globalized international society. So colonized
polities lost control over their territories, leading to territorial boundaries being
shifted during post-colonial state-building. Only Thailand has not been colonized.
Region-building in response to western domination
Economic aspect: developmentalism came up as a response to
industrialisation and the new world economic structure in which Asia
became a peripheral actor.
political aspect: the post-colonial (or post-imperial) state is a counterpart
of rational state-building
Features of post-colonial states:
3
, They often prioritize internal threats to survival as much as external ones,
with borders frequently contested or unclear compared to traditional
sovereignty.
Their borders rarely align with the clear-cut Westphalian ideal, leading to
ongoing complexities in territorial control (sovereignty exceptions like
autonomous regions, disputed territories or quasi-independent entities).
Are often shaped by mixed influences, including imperial histories,
colonization, post-WWII modernization, and global (neo-)liberal norms.
Developmentalism emphasises the idea of prioritizing economic development
Cultural aspect
- Development of localism or anti-westernism. This emphasizes Asi’s
distinctiveness, blaming western influence for political and cultural
oppression. It highlights differences between Asia and Western identities,
seeking to reclaim Asia’s uniqueness.
- The Asian identity emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, during
modernization and transformation.
- A key concept is pan-Asianism: an intellectual movement emphasizing
intra-Asian connections, nationalism, anti-colonial liberation, and
sometimes imperialist or racial commonalities.
The regional order during the World Wars and Cold war
Japan’s imperialism and Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere: Japan
aimed to dominate Asia through territorial expansion, including Korea,
Manchukuo, and parts of Southeast Asia. Imperialism was defeated after
WWII.
Cold war divisions: Asis was split between US and Soviet-aligned states,
with internal conflicts between communists, nationalists and other factions
in China, Vietnam, and Korea.
Pan-Asianism: revived through efforts like Asian Relations Conference
(1947), the Bandung Conference (1855) and the formation of the
nonaligned movement (NAM) in 1961. This has a continued influence in
modern times, with people championing Asian solidarity, or ‘Asia for
Asians’ (this was mainly criticism of the US meddling in the region).
Emergent regionalisation and institutionalization: ASEAN established
(1967) after a few failed attempts. But it didn't make tangible progress
during the cold war.
South Asia during the cold war was different from other regions. The region
features more internal conflicts than conflicts based on superpowers.
Decolonisation and partition: following British India’s independence, India
and Pakistan emerged as separate states, with tensions central to regional
dynamics.
Some unique features:
Security conflicts were regional, and tied to decolonisation and state-
building, not about cold war superpower rivalries.
Cold war alliances had limited influence; India and Pakistan engaged with
the US and USSR but remained largely independent.
South Asia had limited integration with the global economy, with smaller
states closely tied to India economically and socially. India/Pakistan
developed close relations with China.
4
