Module SGIA40915: IDENTITY AND SECURITY IN EAST ASIA

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA40915: IDENTITY AND SECURITY IN EAST ASIA

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide students with an advanced understanding of key concepts and theories in the international politics of East Asia, particularly as these relate to the dynamic between identity and security.
• To provide students with an advanced understanding of how the theories of nationalism, regionalism and 'world order' in East Asia, can be applied.
• To provide students with an advanced knowledge and understanding of both traditional and non-traditional security in East Asia through an examination of states, societies and their histories.
• To enable students to critically evaluate leading scholarship in the field of East Asian international politics.

Content

• Introduction to the module and its central concerns.
• Nationalism and Foreign Relations in East Asia - This meeting will examine the following questions: How is nationalism an issue for foreign policy in East Asia? What is the relation between national identity and national interest in East Asia? What is the relation between nationalism, transnationalism and globalization in East Asia? Is nationalism natural or constructed in East Asia?
• Regionalism in East Asia - This meeting will examine the following questions: Is regionalism in East Asia an issue of institutions or identity? Is regionalism in East Asia an issue of military security, economic cooperation, or regional identity? What is the difference between East Asia and the Pacific Rim? What is the role of ASEAN in regionalism? Does ASEAN + 3 make a difference in East Asian security?
• East Asian World Order in the 21st Century - This meeting will examine the following questions: Is there continuity or discontinuity with the East Asian world order? Is the East Asian world order the same as the Chinese world order? What is the 'Middle Kingdom complex'? Is the East Asian World Order re-emerging? How do Japan and Korea fit into the East Asian World Order?
• What does 'Security' mean in 21st Century Asia? - This meeting will examine the following questions: Is security shifting from political-military issues to political-economic issues? Is stability the main security issue in East Asia? What does China's 'New Security Concept' entail? Is terrorism the main security issue in East Asia? Does China have a Grand Strategy? or a different model of world order?
• Non-traditional Security in East Asia - This meeting will examine the following questions: Is history a strategic issue in East Asia? What do we understand by cultural security or economic security? What does it mean to be a 'normal state' in East Asia? What does it mean to be a 'responsible power' in East Asia? Is Taiwan an Outlaw State?
• The Rise of China - This meeting will examine the following questions: Does China have a grand strategy? If so, what is it? Is China a normal power, a responsible great power, or a revolutionary state? Is China a security threat or an economic opportunity? Is China an economic or cultural threat? Does the Rise of China describe the rise of the PRC or the success of transnational ethnic Chinese networks around the world?
• The Politics of Anit-politics: social dissent in China - Why is the Chinese government threatened by forms of social dissent defined as 'deviant' thought or behaviour? Are there economic reasons for the harsh Chinese reaction? What is the role of popular culture in Chinese politics?
• Asian Cultural Clashes: the Textbook controversy - This meeting will examine the following questions: Is history an important issue in East Asian politics? How do governments use history? What interest groups are concerned with national history (in both China and Japan)? Is an objective history possible?

Learning Outcomes

• An advanced understanding of the international politics of East Asia developed from an examination of the dynamic between security and identity.
• An advanced understanding of the nature of nationalism, regionalism and 'world order' in East Asia, and their relationship to the international politics of the region.
• An advanced understanding of the meaning of traditional and non-traditional security in East Asia.
• An advanced understanding of the implications of rapid growth for the political economies of East Asian states.
• An advanced knowledge of the case studies contrasting political-military and social, economic and cultural security.

• The ability to use critically relevant theoretical approaches to the international politics of East Asia.
• The ability to interpret and analyse the different meanings of security in East Asia and the role of identity in shaping these.
• The ability to conduct analysis of case studies in the international politics of the region, using appropriate theoretical and conceptual tools.

• Independent learning within a defined framework of study at an advanced level.
• Independent thought in analysing and critiquing existing scholarship on the subject area and in evaluating its contribution.
• The ability to work to a deadline and complete written work within word limits.
• Advanced essay-writing skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Students are taught in two-hour slots. The module is divided into three parts. The module begins with a lecture that introduces the main theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the study of East Asian international politics, with an emphasis on the dynamic between security and identity. Seminars thereafter are divided into two sections. The first examines the role of nationalism, regionalism, and 'world order' as explanations for the nature of East Asian international politics. The second section introduces the concepts of traditional and non-traditional security and provides three case studies that explore these concepts.
• The first hour of each seminar is based on student presentations, followed by guided discussion and lecturer feedback. These seminars enable the students to develop their abilities to communicate and to develop their own skills in argumentation.
• Students are required to submit a summative essay of 3,000 words at the end of the module. This enables them to demonstrate achievement that they have sufficient subject knowledge to meet the assessment criteria, that they have achieved subject skills 1 and 2; or 1 and 3; and that they have acquired the key skills 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Student presentation in seminars supported by handout of 1000 words.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University