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dc.contributor.advisorJohnston, Alastair Iain
dc.contributor.authorRyu, Yongwook
dc.date.accessioned2013-01-02T14:27:51Z
dash.embargo.terms2013-02-28en_US
dc.date.issued2013-01-02
dc.date.submitted2011
dc.identifier.citationRyu, Yongwook. 2011. Identity and Security: Identity Distance Theory and Regional Affairs in Northeast and Southeast Asia. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.en_US
dc.identifier.otherhttp://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10046en
dc.identifier.urihttp://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10121969
dc.description.abstractThe dissertation explores the relationship between identity and international security, and tests the effect of the former on the latter by analyzing a set of puzzling phenomena in East Asia—the emergence of mutual threat perception in Sino-Japanese relations; increasingly conflictual relations between Korea and Japan after Korea’s democratization; the establishment of a regional human rights mechanism by ASEAN; and the settlement of key territorial disputes by Southeast Asian nations. Coupled with the diverging frequency of militarized interstate disputes between both regions, these phenomena suggest that Northeast Asia (NEA) has become a region of conflict with high tensions, while Southeast Asia (SEA) has increasingly developed into a region of peace with decreasing tension. The dissertation advances a new theoretical framework, namely, identity distance theory, to understand these puzzling phenomena. Identity distance refers to perceived socio-psychological differences between groups, and its widening (narrowing) is hypothesized to increase (decrease) the likelihood of intergroup conflict. Using a variety of methods—content analysis of newspapers; political elite survey; and a controlled case study on territorial disputes—the dissertation shows that it is the contrasting evolution of identity distance in the two regions that is the key to explaining the cross-regional differences. The root cause of the widening identity distance in NEA is the rise of the so-called history problem (lishi wenti) in the 1980s, influencing China’s threat perception of Japan and altering the effect of Korea’s democratization on its relations with Japan. In contrast, the narrowing identity distance in SEA due to the construction of a regional identity and community since the 1990s enabled thorny issues such as human rights to be discussed more freely by raising the comfort level among regional countries, and resulted in the resolution of two key territorial disputes in SEA through the arbitration of the International Court of Justice. Identity distance theory proposes a connection between identity and security, and contends that identity-related issues are an important factor affecting different regional dynamics. The findings of the dissertation suggest that the relations of enmity and amity between states are socially constructed through interactions between actors, which engender certain social identities and relations favorable for peace or conflict.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipGovernmenten_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dash.licenseLAA
dc.subjectASEANen_US
dc.subjectEast Asiaen_US
dc.subjectinternational relationsen_US
dc.subjectpolitical scienceen_US
dc.subjecthistory problemen_US
dc.subjectidentityen_US
dc.subjectinternational securityen_US
dc.titleIdentity and Security: Identity Distance Theory and Regional Affairs in Northeast and Southeast Asiaen_US
dc.typeThesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.date.available2013-02-28T08:30:28Z
thesis.degree.date2011en_US
thesis.degree.disciplineGovernmenten_US
thesis.degree.grantorHarvard Universityen_US
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.namePh.D.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSimmons, Bethen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberPharr, Susanen_US
dc.data.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1902.1/17411en_US


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