Abe Shinzō and Japan’s Proactive Contribution to Realism
Memo #403 By: Giulio Pugliese – giulio.pugliese [at] kcl.ac.uk Abe Shinzō’s comeback in December 2012 triggered a new dynamism in Japanese security practices. Relative domestic political stability, a deteriorating regional environment, and Abe’s appreciation for high politics has enabled the Japanese government to push for constitutional reinterpretation, pass embattled security legislation, and inaugurate new security […]
Improving Political Engagement via Facebook in Thailand
Memo #400 By: Aim Sinpeng – aim.sinpeng [at] sydney.edu.au Do social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Firechat improve political participation among the previously disengaged? If so, do they transcend existing socioeconomic divides in political engagement? While some see the rise of online political engagement among youths in North America and Europe, whose participation in […]
More than Sports: Politics in the Origins of the Professional Baseball League in South Korea
Memo #399 By: Jinsung Kim – mitol8274 [at] gmail.com The KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), South Korea’s professional baseball league, has grown both quantitatively and qualitatively since its establishment in 1982. Some 7 million domestic fans attended games in 2016, while the Korean national team’s victories at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2015 WBSC Premier12 attracted […]
The Politics of Pacific Ocean Conservation
Memo #395 By: Justin Alger – alger.justinw [at] gmail.com and Peter Dauvergne – peterdau [at] mail.ubc.ca Since 2006, states have established 18 large marine protected areas (MPAs) exceeding 200,000km2, most of which are located throughout the Pacific. This development represents the emergence of a new global norm of large MPAs in marine conservation. The emergence of this norm was not […]
Why is the ‘Comfort Women’ dispute a never-ending story?
Memo #394 By: Ji Young Kim – jiyoungkim333 [at] gmail.com and Jeyong Sohn – sohn [at] rikkyo.ac.jp On December 28, 2015, the “comfort women” problem, one of the major stumbling blocks in Japan-South Korea relations, seemed to have been resolved through a governmental agreement between the two countries. Despite its characterization as a “final and […]
Local Governments and the Politics of LGBT Issues in Japan
Memo #393 By: Yasuo Takao – Y.Takao [a] curtin.edu.au In Japan, there was a history of open homosexuality as described in literary evidence dating back from the Heian period (794 – 1185). But in the present day, the Japanese legal system has continually ignored sexual minority issues, while not explicitly criminalizing homosexual behavior (except for […]
Current Gift-Giving Practices Devoid of Popular Legitimacy in Cambodia?
Memo #392 By: Astrid Norén-Nilsson – astrid.nn [at] gmail.com In the last national elections in 2013, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) experienced a strong surge in support, finishing a close second to the long-incumbent Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). Whilst the CNRP campaigned on an anti-money politics, rights-based agenda, the CPP has relied on gift-giving […]
Multicultural Policy in South Korea and its Implications for Social Inclusion of Multiethnic Youth
Memo #391 By: Léo-Thomas Brylowski – ltbrylowski [at] gmail.com A record number of children born from mixed marriages are starting to make their way through South Korea’s public schooling system since the country’s multicultural turn in 2007. These children represented less than 0.5% of all students enrolled in Korean public schools in 2010, but are […]
After the LegCo Oath Controversy, What’s Next for Hong Kong?
Memo #389 By: Justin Kwan – justin.kwan [at] alumni.ubc.ca Escalating tensions raise further concern about Hong Kong’s democracy Hong Kong’s democratic system has been dealt a severe blow after two democratically elected lawmakers who advocated independence from China, Sixtus “Baggio” Leung and Yau Wai-ching, were expelled from office. Beijing, in its interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic […]
China’s ambitions welcomed in Kuala Lumpur?
Memo #388 By: Phuong Nguyen – h0aiphuong.14 [at] gmail.com and Kai Ostwald – kai.ostwald [at] ubc.ca In the shadows of the headline-grabbing October announcement that the Philippines would forge closer ties with China and “separate” from its long-time ally the United States, Malaysia quietly took its own significant strides towards Beijing’s orbit. Malaysia’s under-the-radar rebalance provides […]