Challenging the Concept of the Region: The Indo-Pacific as an Example of an Emerging “Artificial” Region

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 2, 17 - 31, 30.12.2022

Vuslat Nur Şahin

Öz

This article demonstrates that the social sciences and humanities have a variety of conceptual tools for deciding questions of regional nomenclature, but that existing theories of world regions do not easily account for the emergence of the Indo-Pacific as an organizing idea in world politics. Indeed, the Indo-Pacific would not be considered a likely candidate for “regionhood” from the perspective of the most prominent schools of thought within regional studies, for this study Old Regionalism, New Regionalism and Comparative Regionalism’s theorical approaches testing in the case of Indo-Pacific. If the Indo-Pacific has a claim to regionhood, then, it is not because dispassionate observers have assessed that there is something empirical about this geographic space that warrants its categorization as a world region. Rather, the Indo-Pacific is a region only because a certain set of political actors have willed it into existence. In this sense, the Indo-Pacific is an artificial region – the product of political interests and manipulation. While all regions are artificial to a certain degree – that is, concepts are human-made by definition, and none are independent from the political world – the Indo-Pacific is perhaps more artificial than other world regions in the sense that the region would likely never have been conjured if not for political purposes. Thus, the Indo-Pacific construct is not just changing world politics – it is also altering the academic study of world politics in some important ways.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Region, Regionalism, Indo-Pacific, Asia-Pacific, ASEAN

Teşekkür

Some of the ideas of the paper was firstly presented in the ISA 2022, Nashville, I am very thankful to questions and feedbacks of participants. I also express my special thanks to Dr Peter Harris, for his suggestions and feedback on my manuscript, and the anonymous reviewers. The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Kaynakça

• Acharya, A. (2012). Comparative Regionalism: A Field Whose Time has Come? The International Spectator, 47(1), 3–15.
• Acharya, A. (2014). Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the problem of regional order (Third edition). London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
• Acharya, A. (2016). Studying the Bandung conference from a Global IR perspective. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 70(4): 342-357.
• Australian National University (2022). The future of the Pacific Islands Forum and Kiribati’s withdrawal. Crawford School of Public Policy. https://crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/20511/future-pacific-islands-forum-and-kiribatis-withdrawal (Accessed Date: 17.11.2022).
• Beeson, M. (2003). ASEAN Plus Three and the Rise of Reactionary Regionalism. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 25(2), 251–268.
• Bhatia, R. K. and Sakhuja, V. (Ed.). (2014). Indo Pacific Region: Political and strategic prospects. New Delhi: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd.
• Bigelow, B. (2009). Early Intellectual Influences on D. W. Meinig: A Former Student’s Fond Memories. Geographical Review, 99(3), 303–332.
• Börzel, T. A. and Risse-Kappen, T. (Ed.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of comparative regionalism (First edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Buzan, B. (1991). New patterns of global security in the twenty-first century. International Affairs, 67(3), 431–451.
• Buzan, B. (2012). Asia: A Geopolitical Reconfiguration. Politique Étrangère, 77(2), 1–13.
• Buzan, B. and Wæver, O. (2003). Regions and powers: The structure of international security. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Chubb, A. (2022). The Securitization of ‘Chinese Influence’ in Australia. Journal of Contemporary China, 1–18.
• Fabian, K. P. (2019). India’s Foreign Policy: Options in the changing geo-political context. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. https://mea.gov.in/distinguished-lectures-detail.htm?810 (Accessed Date: 16.08.2022).
• Fawcett, L. (2012). The History and Concept of Regionalism. European Society of International Law (ESIL) Conference Paper Series, 4. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2193746 (Accessed Date: 01.09.2022).
• Gyngell, A. (2018). To each their own ‘Indo-Pacific.’ East Asia Forum. https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/05/23/to-each-their-own-indo-pacific/ (Accessed Date: 08.08.2022).
• Hamanaka, S. (2011). Asian regionalism and Japan: The politics of membership in regional diplomatic, financial and trade groups. Oxon: Routledge.
• He, B. (2016). Contested ideas of regionalism in Asia. London: Routledge.
• Hettne, B. (2003). The New Regionalism Revisited. F. Söderbaum and T. M. Shaw (Ed.). Theories of New Regionalism. Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 22-42.
• Hettne, B. and Söderbaum, F. (2008). The future of regionalism: Old divides, new frontiers. C. Cooper, C. W. Hughes, and P. De Lombaerde (Ed.). Regionalisation and Global Governance. London:
• Routledge, 288-307.
• Hettne, B., Inotai, A. and Sunkel, O. (Ed.). (1999). Globalism and the New Regionalism. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
• Hoffmann, S. (1966). Obstinate or Obsolete? The Fate of the Nation-State and the Case of Western Europe. Daedalus, 95(3), 862–915.
• Hu, R. W. (2009). Building Asia Pacific Regional Architecture: The Challenge of Hybrid Regionalism. The Brookings Institutition, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/07_asia_pacific_hu.pdf (Accessed Date: 08.08.2022).
• Hurrell, A. (1995). Explaining the Resurgence of Regionalism in World Politics. Review of International Studies, 21(4), 331–358.
• Japan Ministry of Defense. (2022). About International Peace Cooperation Activities. https://www.mod.go.jp/en/d_act/kokusai_heiwa/about.html (Accessed Date: 10.09.2022).
• Jessop, B. (2003). The Political Economy of Scale and the Construction of Cross-Border Micro-Regions. F. Söderbaum and T. M. Shaw (Ed.). Theories of New Regionalism. Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 179–196.
• Jha, P. K. and Xuan Vihn, V. (2021). India Vietnam and the Indo-Pacific: Expanding horizons. Oxon: Routledge.
• Jönsson, C., Tägil, S. and Törnqvist, G. (2000). Organizing European space. London: SAGE Publications.
• Kahler, M. (2000). Legalization as Strategy: The Asia-Pacific Case. International Organization, 54(3), 549–571.
• Katzenstein, P. J. (2005). A World of Regions: Asia and Europe in the American Imperium (1st edition). Cornell: Cornell University Press.
• Kiyota, T. (2014). Japan’s South China Sea Conundrum. P. Kaushiva and A. Singh (Ed.). The Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific. Knowledge World.
• Koga, K. (2020). Japan’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ question: Countering China or shaping a new regional order? International Affairs, 96(1), 49–73.
• Kolpakova, T. V. and Kuchinskaya, T. N. (2015). China’s “New Regionalism” as a Mechanism to Strengthen the Influence of China in the Global Integration Processes: An Example of Eurasian Economic Union Authors. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 5(2), 109–115.
• Lee-Brown, T. (2018). Asia’s security triangles: Maritime minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific. East Asia, 35(2), 163-176.
• McMahon, R.J. (1999). The Limits of Empire. Colombia University Press.
• Medcalf, R. (2018). Reimagining Asia: From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific. G. Rozman and J. C. Liow (Ed.). International Relations and Asia’s Southern Tier. Singapore: Springer, 9-28.
• Medcalf, R. (2020). Indo-Pacific empire: China, America and the contest for the world’s pivotal region. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• Milward, A. S. (2000). The European rescue of the nation-state (2nd ed). London: Routledge.
• Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France. France in the south-west Indian Ocean. France Diplomacy. https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/africa/france-in-the-south-west-indian-ocean/#:~:text=For%20centuries%2C%20France%20has%20built,20%25%20of%20France's%20total%20EEZ (Accessed Date: 30.11.2022).
• Ministry of External Affairs Government of India. (2012). Opening Statement by Prime Minister at Plenary Session of India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit. https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/20981/Opening+Statement+by+Prime+Minister+at+Plenary+Session+of+IndiaASEAN+Commemorative+Summit (Accessed Date: 17.08.2022).
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2007). Confluence of the Two Seas Speech by H.E.Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan at the Parliament of the Republic of India. https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/pmv0708/speech-2.html (Accessed Date: 08.08.2022).
• Nagy, S. (2021). Sino-Japanese Reactive Diplomacy as Seen Through the Interplay of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision (FOIP). China Report, 57(1), 7–21.
• Neumann, I. B. (2003). A Region-Building Approach. F. Söderbaum and T. M. Shaw (Ed.). Theories of New Regionalism. Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 160-178.
• O’Rourke, R. (2020). U.S.-China strategic competition in South and East China Seas: Background and issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service.
• Pacific Command Change Highlights Growing Importance of Indian Ocean Area. (2018, May 31). [News]. U.S Indo-Pacific Command. https://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1537107/pacific-command-change-highlights-growing-importance-of-indian-ocean-area/ (Accessed Date: 20.08.2022).
• Panda, J. (2021). Can Japan Take Forward the B3W Initiative Ahead?. Austria Institut für Europa-und Sicherheitspolitik. https://www.aies.at/download/2021/AIES-Fokus-2021-15.pdf (Accessed Date: 30.11.2022).
• Panikkar, K. M. (1946). Regionalism and World Security. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 2(2), 120–124.
• Parliament of Australia. (2013). Defence White Paper 2013. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/DefendAust/2013 (Accessed Date: 08.08.2022).
• Prabhakar, L. W. (2014). The Emergent Vistas of the Indo-Pacific. R. K. Bhatia and V. Sakhuja (Ed.). Indo-Pacific Region: Political and Strategic Prospects. New Delhi: ICWA.
• Prys, M. (2012). Redefining regional power in international relations: Indian and South African perspectives. London: Routledge.
• Puchala, D. J. (1971). Of Blind men, elephants and international integration. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 10(3), 267–284.
• Rodham Clinton, H. (2010). America’s Engagement in the Asia-Pacific. U.S Department of State. https://2009-2017.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2010/10/150141.htm#:~:text=In%20a%20vast%20and%20diverse,the%20region's%20remarkable%20economic%20growth (Accessed Date: 17.08.2022).
• Rumley, D. (2005). The Geopolitics of Asia-Pacific Regionalism in the 21st Century. The Otemon Journal of Australian Studies, 31, 5–27.
• Sacks, D. (2021). Countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Who’s In And Who’s Out [Blog post]. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/blog/countries-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative- whos-and-whos-out (Accessed Date: 20.08.2022).
• Saha, P. (2015). Indo-Pacific: Evolving Perceptions and Dynamics. National Maritime Foundation. https://maritimeindia.org/indo-pacific-evolving-perceptions-and-dynamics/
• Satake, T. (2019). Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” and Its Implication for ASEAN. Southeast Asian Affairs, 2019, 69–82.
• Saurabh, V. K. (2018). India’s Engagement in the Indo-Pacific Region. International Research Journal of Commerce , Arts and Science, 9(3), 358–364.
• Shekhar, V. (2018). Indonesia’a Foreign Policy and Grand Strategy in the 21st Century: Rise of an indo-pacific power. London: Routledge.
• Singh, B. and Teo S. (2020). Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific. Routledge.
• Söderbaum, F. (2009). Comparative Regional Integration and Regionalism. T. Landman and N. Robinson (Ed.). The SAGE Handbook of Comparative Politics. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 477-496.
• Söderbaum, F. (2012). Theories of Regionalism. Routledge Handbook of Asian Regionalism. London: Routledge.
• Söderbaum, F. (2015). Early, Old, New and Comparative Regionalism: The Scholarly Development of the Field. 64. https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/fub188/18003/WP-64- Soederbaum_WEB.pdf?sequence=1 (Accessed Date: 20.08.2022).
• Söderbaum, F. (2016). Old, New, and Comparative Regionalism: The History and Scholarly Development of the Field. T. A. Börzel and T. Risse (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Sridharan, K. (1993). India–ASEAN Relations: Evolution, Growth and Prospects. C. Jeshurun (Ed.). China, India, Japan and the Security of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
• Sukma, R. and Soeya, Y. (2015). Navigating change: ASEAN-Japan strategic partnership in East Asia and in global governance. Japan Center for International Exchange.
• Suzuki, K. (2022). Japan’s Economic Security and Semiconductor Industry. The Japan Institute of International Affairs. https://www.jiia.or.jp/en/ajiss_commentary/japans-economic-security-and-semiconductor-industry.html (Accessed Date: 20.08.2022).
• Tai Yong, T. and Mun C. (2009). The Evolution of India–ASEAN Relations. Indian Review, 8(1), 20-42.
• Terada, T. (2003). Constructing an ‘East Asian’ concept and growing regional identity: From EAEC to ASEAN+3. The Pacific Review, 16(2), 251–277.
• The U.S the Deparment of Defence. (2019). Indo-Pacific Strategy Report: Preparedness, Partnerships, and Promoting a Networked Region. The U.S the Deparment of Defence https://media.defense.gov/2019/Jul/01/2002152311/-1/-1/1/DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE-INDO-PACIFIC-STRATEGY-REPORT-2019.PDF (Accessed Date: 17.08.2022).
• Tuathail, G. O. u. (2002). Postmodern Geopolitics?: The Modern Geopolitical Imagination and Beyond. S. Dalby and G. O. u Tuathail (Ed.). Rethinking Geopolitics. London: Routledge, 28-50.
• Väyrynen, R. (2003). Regionalism: Old and New. International Studies Review, 5(1), 25–51.
• Waltz, K. N. (2010). Theory of international politics. Illinois: Waveland Press.
• Wei, L. (2020). Developmental peace in east Asia and its implications for the Indo-Pacific. International Affairs, 96(1), 189–209.
• Wendt, A. (1994). Collective Identity Formation and the International State. The American Political Science Review, 88(2), 284–396.
• Wilkins, T. and Kim, J. (2022). Adoption, accommodation or opposition? - Regional powers respond to American-led Indo-Pacific strategy. The Pacific Review, 35(3), 415–445.
• Wilson, J. D. (2018). Rescaling to the Indo-Pacific: From Economic to Security-Driven Regionalism in Asia. East Asia, 35(2), 177–196.
• Yeo, A. (2018). Overlapping regionalism in East Asia: Determinants and potential effects. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 18(2), 161-191.
• Yeo, A. (2019). Asia’s regional architecture: Alliances and institutions in the Pacific century. Stanford: Stanford University Press.