Government and Politics of Asia and The Pacific
Summary
Government and politics across Asia and the Pacific encompass a spectrum of systems, from vibrant democracies to tightly managed single-party states. Historical legacies of colonial rule, post-war reconstruction and diverse state–society relations have shaped complex patterns of authority, nation-building and citizenship. In established democracies such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand, robust institutions co-exist with debates over federalism, indigenous rights and immigration policy. Emerging democracies in South and Southeast Asia have navigated hybrid regimes, elite coalitions and periodic military interventions, even as civil society and digital activism have grown in influence. Meanwhile, communist-party rule in China and Vietnam continues to evolve under a mix of economic liberalisation and political centralisation. At the regional level, institutions such as ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and subregional defence partnerships seek to balance great-power competition with norms of consensus and non-interference. Foreign-policy strategies range from delicate hedging between Washington and Beijing to exclusive bandwagoning with major powers. Domestic challenges—urbanisation, social inequality and environmental risks—intersect with geopolitics in shaping state capacity and legitimacy. Across the region, governments confront pressures for reform and resilience in equal measure, illustrating the global significance of adaptive political systems in the twenty-first century.
Research from Nature Portfolio
A South Asian neutral power in the United Nations examines how newly independent India deployed non-military peacekeeping forces under UN auspices on the Korean Peninsula between 1947 and 1955. The study shows that Indian diplomats and medical units forged consensus among rival Cold War blocs, pioneering neutral multilateral engagement in a divided region. It highlights the strategic value of humanitarianism and unarmed diplomacy in achieving influence without formal military commitments.
M. R. Kukrit Pramoj’s dialectics of Farang Sakdina revisits a classical Thai theory of governance by analysing how traditional notions of social rank and land allocation inform contemporary institutions. Through textual analysis of Kukrit’s 1958 critique, the paper develops a dialectical framework showing how contradictions within Thai political culture—between hierarchy and modern bureaucratic norms—are continually resolved and reconstituted, shedding light on the endurance of royalist hegemony and possibilities for reform.
Government and Politics of Asia and The Pacific publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in government and politics of asia and the pacific across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Neutral power: A state that maintains impartiality by avoiding military alliances, instead employing unarmed diplomacy or peacekeeping to exert international influence.
Dialectical framework: An analytical model that emphasises the dynamic resolution of inherent contradictions within political cultures or institutions over time.
Hedging: A foreign-policy strategy in which a state engages with multiple great powers simultaneously to minimise risks and preserve autonomy.
Bandwagoning: The alignment of a weaker state with a stronger power, seeking benefits or protection even at the cost of strategic independence.
Securitization: The process by which policy actors frame an issue—such as foreign investment or influence—as an existential threat, enabling extraordinary political responses.
References
- A South Asian neutral power in the United Nations: India’s peacekeeping mission on the Korean peninsula (1947–1955). Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).
- M. R. Kukrit Pramoj’s theory of good governance and political change: the dialectics of Farang Sakdina. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2022).
- Shrinking room for hedging: system-unit dynamics and behavior of smaller powers. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (2019).
- An “Ironclad Friend”: Explaining Cambodia’s Bandwagoning Policy towards China. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs (2020).
- The Securitization of ‘Chinese Influence’ in Australia. Journal of Contemporary China (2022).
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