ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how a regional security order is being shaped in Northeast Asia, focusing on the links between sovereignty and regional security issues to investigate security “bottlenecks.” One remarkable aspect of the Northeast Asia region is the lack of an effective security cooperation mechanism among regional actors, even after the end of the Cold War. Instead of stunted regionalism, US-led alliance networks have maintained a regional security order in the face of various transformations. China did not seek to challenge US-led alliances in this region until the beginning of the 2000s, while Russia was excluded from regional security efforts in Asia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The situation has changed today, however. First, the United States is debating the continued benefits of its overseas commitments. Second, China and Russia have strengthened military cooperation. Third, on the Korean Peninsula, both Russia and China have strengthened traditional ties with Pyongyang. For countries facing territorial disputes (Russia and Japan, South Korea and Japan, China and Japan) or longstanding division (China and Taiwan, North and South Koreas), norms of territorial integrity and sovereignty are of primary importance to national security goals. This chapter highlights how the interaction of these distinct sovereignty regimes conditions security perceptions in Northeast Asia and also highlights the impact of the strengthened partnership between Russia and China on the regional security order.
