Security dynamics in East Asia: An emerging arms race? (EIAS Briefing Seminar)

Описание: For more info and powerpoint presentation: http://bit.ly/13vGMaO

Brussels, 19 June 2013, at the European Institute for Asian Studies http://www.eias.org/

Chair: Ms Lin Goethals, Programme Director, EIAS
Speakers:
Mr David Fouquet, Senior Associate, EIAS
Mr Bruno Hellendorff, Research Fellow, Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security (GRIP)
Dr Luis Simón, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Even as defence budgets in Europe have declined significantly since the end of the Cold War, various East Asian countries have increased their defence spending. Furthermore, North Korea continues to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, threatening to destabilise the Korean Peninsula and the whole of Northeast Asia. While on the one side, spending increases in Asian military are not disproportionate when looked at in the context of rapid GDP increases, rising defence spending in Asia is taking place against the backdrop of growing tensions over territorial disputes and competition for resources. Hence, a clear arms race dynamic is beginning to emerge in East Asia. "There are indeed inherent perceptional sensitivities in military build-ups that could create miscalculations, misjudgements, and mistrust," Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum held in Singapore, on 1 June. While the European Union is not a prominent security actor in East Asia, several of its member states (for example, France, and the United Kingdom) are significant exporters of defence systems to the region.