Expanding the Normative Parameters of Public Value: ‘Good Samaritanism’ and Saving Strangers

Brendan Howe(Brendan Howe ) 한국공공가치학회 2022 공공가치연구 Vol.4 No.1

Promoting Public Value Through International Organization

Brendan Howe(Brendan Howe ) 한국공공가치학회 2023 공공가치연구 Vol.5 No.-

Purpose: This article explores the evolution of practical global governance measures aimed at promoting public values in an anarchic (in the sense of without government) international operating environment. The process of international organization has occupied a central position in the discourse, and the physical manifestations of various formal international organizations and informal institutions have provided practical experiments in policy implementation. From the starting point of the universal lowest common denominator of values generated by an overlapping consensus of competing epistemological traditions (that of avoiding interstate war), the process of international organization has gradually expanded to embrace non-traditional security public values. Middle powers have played a key role in the expansion of the global governance paradigm, and aspirations for more comprehensive public value generation. The centrality of multilateralism and the roles of middle powers have, however, increasingly come under pressure from the realities of great power contestation in the international operating environment. The relatively new “minilateral” manifestations of international organization are also demonstrated as coming up short when providing public value promotion. This article, therefore, asks and attempts to answer the central global governance question of how can public values be promoted in the international operating environment in the absence of a central governing authority? Method: This research project used a qualitative approach consisting of literature review and document analysis. The results of this study should be supplemented by quantitative and qualitative studies in the future. The literature review consists of a comprehensive assessment of scholarly academic publications from competing perspectives in the fields of political and moral philosophy, public administration, and international relations. The document survey is mainly related to the policy documentation output of national governments and international organizations, as well as media reports. Results: The research identifies how new practical challenges to established multilateral manifestations of international organization and the global normative aspirations of middle powers, as well as shortcomings of the more recent minilateral arrangements require radical out of the box thinking. Hence, new modalities and conceptualizations are proposed to address the challenges of public value provision through the process of international organization. These include non-traditional security minilaterals, regional international commissions, and a central role for the new conceptualization of “second-tier” powers. Conclusion: Global public values are generated at the international level, in the absence of global government, through the process of international organization. Various models of practical manifestation of the related theoretical concepts have been proposed, and have been implemented, with varying degrees of success. In a time of increased great power contestation, however, multilateral institutions and middle powers, their chief proponents, have been undermined. The proliferation of minilaterals and minilateralism has proven to be an inadequate procedural replacement. Hence the need to explore additional agencies of “disruptive innovation.”

SDG-16 Promoting Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: Intersectoral Challenges and Policy Recommendations for Peace and Development

Brendan M. Howe(Brendan M. Howe) 한국공공가치학회 2024 공공가치연구 Vol.8 No.-

Purpose: Sustainable Development Goal 16 focuses attention on the global governance mission simultaneously to promote peace and development. Global governance aspirations for peace and development have, however, faced three main challenges. First, geopolitics, the resurgence of realism in theory and practice, the abdication of leadership by the great powers, and increasing contestation between them. Second, the problem of silos. Despite an ongoing and growing recognition of the interdependencies between the different manifestations of global governance aimed at reconciling conflicting interests, generating (and distributing) collective good, and providing security for all, policy communities have shown reluctance to engage across thematic and operational divides. Third, considerations of cultural relativism, exceptionalism, and exclusion. Certain countries, regions, and groups are seen as being excluded from the “universal” narrative, are forced to occupy a subaltern position to that of the great powers within the instruments of global governance, or hail from a different epistemological background, and are, therefore, marginalized by the dominant discourse. This article explores what progress has been made in response to these challenges, as well as what further needs to be done. Method: This research project used a qualitative approach consisting of literature review and document analysis. The results of this study should be supplemented by quantitative and qualitative studies in the future. The literature review consists of a comprehensive assessment of scholarly academic publications from competing perspectives in the fields of political and moral philosophy, public administration, and international relations. The document survey is mainly related to the policy documentation output of national governments and international organizations, as well as media reports. Results: This article embraces the advances in intersectoral discourse and global governance policy recommendations, including international commissions, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and conceptualizations of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDPN), but emphasizes that this platform needs to be expanded in two directions; simultaneously championing all three sides of the nexus (rather than just any two of them), and mainstreaming human-centering in all governance policymaking. It further advocates taking an “overlapping consensus” approach that better reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the global community than does a one size fits all universalist approach and considers the potential for hybridity between perspectives. Finally, it reflects on the need for the empowerment of regional and subaltern voices, and leadership from these policy communities. Conclusion: This article examines the evolution of attempts to promote peace and development through the instruments of global governance. It focuses on the intersectoral nature of challenges and thus policy prescription responses. These have culminated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular in SDG-16: Promoting Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and in the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDPN). These global governance initiatives have, however, faced the continuing challenges of geopolitics, silos, and relativism. Hence this article advocates searching for an overlapping consensus which empowers local and subaltern voices and addresses simultaneously all sides of the HDPN but with a particular emphasis on vulnerable individuals and groups - a lower case HDPN.

Geopolitical Challenges to Liberal Internationalism, the New World Order, and the Democratic Peace

Howe, Brendan 이화여자대학교 국제통상협력연구소 2001 Asian International Studies Review Vol.4 No.1/2

The post-Cold War "New World Order" has been heralded as the fulfillment of the Kantian dream of democratic perpetual peace long trumpeted by liberal internationalists. However, while it is true that democratic values are (for the moment) triumphant, and that universalism is riding piggy-back fashion upon waves of globalization, the victory is far from complete, and the process far from inevitable. Universalism is itself subject to limits, and those excluded from full participation may well rebel against the dominance of the western democratic core. If western states do not wish such revolt to gain momentum, they must take steps to ensure that the benefits of participation and economic well being are not spread too unevenly across the globe.

Directions in Japanese Security Policy

( Brendan Howe ) 국방대학교 안보문제연구소 2008 The Korean Journal of Security Affairs Vol.13 No.2

Understanding the process of Japanese security policy making is vital for regional predictive and prescriptive policy analysis. After decades of passivity and reactivity Japan is showing signs of developing a more proactive and independent security policy. Japan`s near neighbors have reacted to such `normalization` of Japanese security policy with alarm and hostility whereas Japan`s Western allies have reacted with more equanimity and have even welcomed what they see as an inevitable evolution. This paper contends that preexisting policy has been overlooked due to its divergence from the accepted norm, and while Japanese security policy is evolving, it is not likely to develop a `normal` power political outlook due to internal societal constraints. Future Japanese administrations are, however, likely to respond to their increasingly engaged and vocal constituents by playing a more assertive role on the international stage in non-traditional security roles in general and in the East Asian region in particular.

The Rwandan Crisis : A Watershed for Humanitarian Intervention

Howe, Brendan M. 이화여자대학교 국제통상협력연구소 2004 Asian International Studies Review Vol.5 No.2

Ten years on, the impact of the inaction of the international community during the Rwandan crisis is still being felt. This article consider normative, legal, and realpolitik constraints operating upon decision-makers, contending that the first two should have enabled decision-makers to authorize intervention if not actually requiring them so to do, and that the international community's non-intervention in genocide was, therefore, due to considerations of national interest. However, international law played a significant role in framing excuses for inaction, and the end of the crisis saw international decision-makers having their hands forced by pressure from their internal and external communities, promising that non-state-centric humanitarian considerations could play aa greater role in future conflicts such as Kosovo and Sudan. Thus this article demonstrates not only that liberal claims of a new world order at the end of the Cold War were premature, but also that post-Rwanda power-political considerations no longer fully explain normative war-fighting decision-making.

From Human Insecurity to International Crisis : Security Spillover on the Korean Peninsula

Howe, Brendan M. Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2011 Journal of peace and unification Vol.1 No.2

Strategic analysis is founded on the assumption of rational behavior based upon calculating decision-making by unitary actors. With regard to security on the Korean Peninsula, however, this article challenges the belief that the internal affairs of states should be discounted, and posits that the lack of internal justice may increase international disorder. Regarding states as unitary rational actors misses alternative explanations for behavior, leads to the adoption of self-fulfilling worst-case-scenario planning, is inherently confrontational, and contributes to the likelihood of the emergence of a security dilemma. Thus if those who engage strategically with the DPRK truly wish to reduce the threat posed by the rogue regime, it is essential that all aspects of the security spectrum be considered.

North Korea: Policy Failures, Human Insecurity, Consequences, and Prescriptions

Brendan M. Howe,김가을 한국학술연구원 2011 Korea Observer Vol.42 No.2

This article seeks to examine the causes and consequences of domestic and international policy failures in North Korea through the lens of human security, and to suggest several alternative policy options for the future. Human security is an emerging multi-disciplinary paradigm for understanding vulnerabilities at the level of individual human beings. It incorporates methodologies and analyses from a number of research fields, including strategic and security studies, development studies, human rights studies, international relations, and the study of international organizations. This article addresses the relationship between human security and development in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by focusing on the dual concepts of freedom from fear and freedom from want as well as the relationship between human security and traditional state-centric security in North Korea and the surrounding region.

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the Challenges of Japanese Democratic Governance

Brendan M. Howe,Jennifer Sejin Oh 한국학술연구원 2013 Korea Observer Vol.44 No.3

This article examines the challenges of democratic governance in Japan through the case of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 2011. Institutionally, the Japanese people lack access to nuclear policy-making. Major political parties fail to heed the voice of the people while an iron triangle of pro-nuclear bureaucrats, politicians and power industries dominate nuclear policy-making. Japanese civil society has remained quiescent for too long and now lacks the capacity effectively to shape nuclear policies. Even recent civil activism and new mechanisms of democratic governance fall short in enhancing the role of civil society in shaping Japan’s nuclear agenda. The article concludes with a discussion on the prospects of improved democratic governance in Japan.

From Human Insecurity to International Crisis: Security Spillover on the Korean Peninsula

( Brendan M. Howe ) 이화여자대학교 통일학연구원 2011 Journal of peace and unification Vol.1 No.2

Strategic analysis is founded on the assumption of rational behavior based upon calculating decision-making by unitary actors. With regard to security on the Korean Peninsula, however, this article challenges the belief that the internal affairs of states should be discounted, and posits that the lack of internal justice may increase international disorder. Regarding states as unitary rational actors misses alternative explanations for behavior, leads to the adoption of self-fulfilling worst-case-scenario planning, is inherently confrontational, and contributes to the likelihood of the emergence of a security dilemma. Thus if those who engage strategically with the DPRK truly wish to reduce the threat posed by the rogue regime, it is essential that all aspects of the security spectrum be considered.