R2P in East and Southeast Asia

Master’s Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: -, course: Public Policy, language: English, abstract: Asian countries belong to the critics of the emerging R2P norm. Since its adoption through the UN General Assembly in 2005 neither has there emerged a champion in the region who would push the concept forward, nor have we seen clear support for R2P in the foreign diplomacy of Southeast and East Asian countries. Classically, the region’s strong adherence to the principle of non-interference is cited as the main reason for this fact. But such an understanding of the situation is incomplete. This paper examines two Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Thailand), two East Asian countries (China, Japan) and the regional body ASEAN in order to find out their positions on R2P in a more diversified fashion and it aims at understanding the obstacles and chances the norm faces in this region. The paper argues that the reception and the development of the concept within the region has been nonuniform and that no country refuses the preventive aspects of R2P but that they are (for different reasons) opposed to the so called third pillar, the interventionist part of the norm. In this respect the paper proposes the introduction of a pillar 2.5 , which would mean emphasizing pillar three’s non-military aspects, in order to gain Southeast and East Asian nations broader support for R2P.