East Asian Peace since 1979 - Panel

NIAS - Nordic Institute of Asian Studies together with its alliance partners will organize a panel on "East Asian Peace 1979-" for the European Alliance for Asian Studies at the 6th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) in August 2009 in Daejeon, Korea. 

East Asia has been relatively peaceful since 1979. Peace in East Asia since 1979 forms a stark contrast not only to the previous period but also to other regions. How could East Asia make a transition to this relative peace? Is the current peace likely to be durable?

Presentations

Stein Tønnesson, Director Peace Research Institute of Oslo: EXPLAINING THE EAST ASIAN PEACE, 1979-2009

Dr. Tønnesson's presentation discusses how historians and social scientists may go about seeking to explain that there has been so relatively little war in the East Asian region since 1979. The presentation will lay down the foundations of an international research program aimed at explaining East Asian Peace 1979-.

Timo Kivimäki, Senior Researcher, NIAS - Nordic Institute of Asian Studies: EAST ASIAN PEACE: IS IT JUST A MATTER OF DEFINITION

Dr. Kivimäki investigates the justification of the notion East Asian Peace from the point of view of alternative operationalizations and answer two questions:
1. Does it make sense to talk about East Asian Peace? It is real?
2. What can we know about the "profile" of this peace? Is it authoritarian, democratic, Orwellian, or comprehensive and non-violent peace?

Mathilda Lindgren, Associate Professor, Uppsala University: EAST ASIAN PEACE AND THE NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGNS FOR GOVERNMENTAL OR TERRITORIAL CHANGES.

Ms. Mathilda Lindgren's presentation will explore the empirical patterns of unarmed insurgencies - that is, nonviolent campaigns for governmental or territorial changes - to explore the extent to which East Asia have been heading towards a region of basically peaceful societies since 1978. The presentation will reveal that conflicts still exist in East Asia, but that they have been either been replaced by intractable, low-intensity, territorially based armed battles, or transformed into large-scale nonviolent and unarmed challenges of government.

Discussants: Prof. Ren Xiao (Fudan University) & Dr. Jordi Urgell (Autonomous University of Barcelona)
Chair: Prof. Thommy Svensson (SSAAPS)