East Asian Regional Politics and Korean Language (6/5)

D A Y S   L I K E   T O D A Y   granted my wish for academic rigor. Our East Asian Regional Security class was followed by an introductory class on the Korean language, meaning we had a day full of educational gold! I was a very happy student, but not a very happy photographer-- it's hard to take interesting pictures when you're in class all day!

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In our first class, we took an extremely valuable regional-level look at East Asian security. Dr. Tessman outlined the abundant sources of potential conflict in the 21st Century. Much of this tension is readily apparent about the region, but doesn't necessarily register as a reason for pessimism, at least to my non-realist eyes. Regardless, there's a lot to worry about if one's really looking for it, and Tessman eloquently arranged these threats into five areas: 

• Radical differences in economic and political size and power that throw the concept of the balance of power to the wind;

• A lack of inclusive institutions for collective security and cooperation (think NATO or the EU)

• A mix of regime types including new democracies, quasi-democracies, authoritarian and communist states

• Historical animosities, such as Japan's colonialism, political tension between China and Vietnam, the Korean War, and the growth and prominence of the regional giants India and China

• Resources, including the Spratly Islands (those islands in the South China Sea that everyone is always sabre-rattling about), the region's Rare Earth minerals, and, as populations increase and our environment changes, the availability of water