The End of the Eternal Return of “Econophoria” in Northeast Asia?: On the Use and Abuse of the Economic Concept of Peace

Mason Richey 이화여자대학교 국제지역연구소 2016 Asian International Studies Review Vol.17 No.1

This article evaluates the concept of “econophoria” in the context of the contemporary international relations of Northeast Asia. The article begins by discussing the idea’s general meaning, some of its theoretical and empirical subtleties (including problems), and how it occupies a special role in studies of Northeast Asian security. The middle section examines the geo-economics and geo-politics of Northeast Asia through an “econophoric” lens, and then identifies the “Asian Paradox” as a situation that calls into question the region’s recent status quo. I conclude by arguing why the “econophoric” program requires transformation over coming decades. Notably I demonstrate that international institutions (especially regional institutions) will be a crucial mechanism for continued stability, development, and peace in Northeast Asia going forward.

Towards a Non-Positivist Approach to Cosmopolitan Immigration: A Critique of the Inclusion/Exclusion Dialectic and an Analysis of Selected European (Im)migration Policies

Richey Mason Lee 서울대학교 국제학연구소 2010 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.17 No.1

This interdisciplinary paper identifies principles of an affluent country (im)migration policy that avoids: (1) the positivist inclusion/exclusion mechanism of liberalism and communitarianism; and (2) the idealism of most cosmopolitan (im)migration theories. First, I: (a) critique the failure of liberalism and communitarianism to consider (im)migration under distributive justice; and (b) present cosmopolitan (im)migration approaches as a promising alternative. This paper’s central claim is that cosmopolitan (im)migration theory can determine normative shortcomings in (im)migration policy by coupling elements of Frankfurt School methodology to case studies of (im)migration regimes. Lastly, I apply this analytical procedure to recent special changes in Spanish and UK immigration law.

Towards a Non-Positivist Approach to Cosmopolitan Immigration

Mason Richey 서울대학교 국제학연구소 2010 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.17 No.1

This interdisciplinary paper identifies principles of an affluent country (im)migration policy that avoids: (1) the positivist inclusion/exclusion mechanism of liberalism and communitarianism; and (2) the idealism of most cosmopolitan (im)migration theories. First, I: (a) critique the failure of liberalism and communitarianism to consider (im)migration under distributive justice; and (b) present cosmopolitan (im)migration approaches as a promising alternative. This paper’s central claim is that cosmopolitan (im)migration theory can determine normative shortcomings in (im)migration policy by coupling elements of Frankfurt School methodology to case studies of (im)migration regimes. Lastly, I apply this analytical procedure to recent special changes in Spanish and UK immigration law.

The EU’s Coming Mid-Life Crisis: The EU’s Coming Mid-Life Crisis: Demographic Change and the Immigration Imperative

Richey Mason Lee 한국외국어대학교 EU연구소 2010 EU연구 Vol.- No.27

This article addresses the likely demographic stagnation that the European Union will experience over the next fifty years. First I present data projecting that the period 2010-2060 will see the EU population both stagnate and grow older. I particularly focus on the EU’s dramatic growth of its old-age dependency ratio and indicate the problems that this development implies for funding retirement and health care benefits across the EU. Finally, I argue that fiscal and social system restructuring alone cannot solve these problems, and that an intelligent program for increasing immigration into the EU will be necessary.

Can You Get There from Here? Difficulties in Generating EU Strategic Culture

Mason Richey,Daewon Ohn 이화여자대학교 국제지역연구소 2022 Asian International Studies Review Vol.23 No.2

Despite conceptual and methodological ambiguities, strategic culture has become a useful notion in international politics. An extension of this is the emergence of debates concerning the EU’s endeavors to cultivate a strategic culture at a supranational level. The EU has functioned as a constructivist laboratory insofar as its integration has been synonymous with the formation of institutional identity and decision-making processes that are building blocks of strategic culture. Employing the definition of strategic culture as the interplay of discourse and practice arrived at through an elite-negotiated reality, we undertake a document analysis that addresses an often neglected issue: what are some of the mechanisms that have led EU strategic culture to advance or stagnate? Beyond simple constructivist accounts, we investigate EU strategic culture formation through lessons gleaned from political and organizational/institutional psychology’s understanding of how biased reasoning affects decision-making. We claim that groupthink bias and other biases within the decision-making apparatuses of EU institutions have shaped EU strategic culture formation. This approach enables us to better understand the specific nature of the EU’s efforts to solidify its strategic culture, as well as the prospects for the EU to coherently execute grand strategy addressing challenges in the EU neighborhood and the Indo-Pacific.

Strategic Implications of a Nuclear North Korea: Europe’s Dual Role in Diplomacy and Deterrence

Mason Richey,이정훈,김장호 한국국방연구원 2020 The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis Vol.32 No.2

This article examines the strategic implications of North Korea as a nuclear state, and outlines why the default setting of a nuclear Korean Peninsula is instability, thereby also showing why this is not simply a U.S.–North Korea or North–South peninsular issue when it comes to preventing conflict escalation. Indeed, it is not only a regional issue involving China, Japan, and Russia, but a global issue warranting a world-wide effort at resolution. An understudied aspect of a nuclear North Korea and its geo-strategic implications is the way in which Europe is affected. As a norm-maker, as well as a party with critical stakes in maintaining a liberal global order, European states, the EU, and NATO have geopolitical interests in the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, particularly vis-à-vis dictatorial regimes such as North Korea. In light of this, this article argues that Europe’s policy-makers should (a) continue to devote major diplomatic resources (including naming a Special Representative for North Korea) to the effort to keep Korean Peninsula diplomacy alive, and (b), regardless of the success or failure of Korean Peninsula diplomacy, prepare to contribute to deterrence and containment efforts in concert with the international community. Whether through diplomacy or deterrence, Europe must become more pro-active if it hopes to enjoy peninsular peace dividends.

The Korean Peninsula Deterrence Dilemma

Mason Richey 제주평화연구원 2022 Jeju Forum Journal Vol.2022 No.1

This article examines the question of how the emerging security dilemma on the Korean Peninsula can be moderated in order to lower the risk of conflict between North Korea and the US-South Korea alliance as they enter into a long-term nuclear deterrence relationship. To address this, the paper proceeds in the following way. The following section II explains why North Korea is extremely unlikely to denuclearize and thus the security dilemma between North Korea and the US-South Korea alliance is likely to continue and become more acute within the context of a long-term deterrence relationship. Section III discusses a range of possibilities that might be employed to attempt to check the security dilemma and reduce the chance of the intentional or inadvertent breakout of conflict (and reduce the danger of escalation if conflict breakout does occur). Section IV concludes with reflections on how the empirical situation of the Korean Peninsula security dilemma—which is asymmetric, insofar as the US-South Korea alliance is far more powerful than North Korea—might affect its dynamics differently than would be expected in a more orthodox security dilemma featuring a conflict dyad of more symmetric power relations.

The Future of the EU`s Security Role in a Transformed East Asia

( Ohn Daewon ),( Mason Richey ) 한국국방연구원 2012 The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis Vol.24 No.2

A fundamentally new security landscape is unfolding in East Asia due to the changing power structure among the great powers, particularly owing to the fast rise of China and the relative decline of the United States. This paper analyzes the dynamics of power transition in East Asia and assesses the possibility of the EU playing a meaningful role in the strengthening of security governance in the region. It begins by arguing that although the East Asian region is entering a transformation stage it will not likely lead to a major collision between the United States and China. This means the EU will have opportunities to become involved in East Asian security affairs, provided it further strengthens its multi-faceted, comprehensive engagement policies vis-a-vis the region. We focus particularly on the EU`s ability to promote the positive aspects of East Asian regionalism via deepened and expanded cooperative measures such as bilateral and multilateral framework agreements with regional countries and organizations. In addition to offering a reliable model for regional security governance, the EU will be able to contribute to regional security by cooperating with the United States and other East Asian countries and organizations in selected security issues, such as sea-lane protection, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD), humanitarian operations, etc. Internally, we show that after the Treaty of Lisbon the EU is approaching incrementally a position wherein it can make greater CFSP/CSDP engagements. particularly those associated with peacekeeping/peacemaking and humanitarian operations. in the wider world including East Asia.

Cooperation on Counter-Piracy in the Gulf of Aden among China, Korea, and Japan: Implications for Trilateral Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia

( Dae Won Ohn ),( Mason Richey ) 한국국방연구원 2014 The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis Vol.26 No.1

Northeast Asia`s regional cooperation is abysmal. Although China, South Korea, and Japan have generally compartmentalized bilateral trade relations in order to ensure continuing prosperity of their respective economies, regionally institutionalized cooperation remains weak, even in this domain. Trilateral political and security cooperation among these states is virtually nonexistent. China`s disinclination (as an emerging regional hegemon) toward regional cooperation and Japan`s failure to settle its historical problems are regarded as the key reasons for the lack of such a development. Yet despite this fraught situation the prospects for regional cooperation among the three main Northeast Asian powers have seen glimmers of hope. This paper argues that security is surprisingly one of the areas where scholars and practitioners envision a foundation for increased opportunities for regional cooperation. The most noteworthy case is the ongoing coordination among China, Japan, and South Korea (along with some others) to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden area. Beyond the result of reducing piracy on commercial shipping, the counter-piracy effort has fostered cultural exchange among the region`s different navies and coastguards, offering opportunities for growing the spectrum of maritime security expertise beyond what each country would be able to do alone. This paper looks at the implications of this combined effort for other potential areas of cooperation among the Northeast Asian states.