International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific: The political economy of conflict and cooperation

Jeffrey David Wilson (2017). International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific: The political economy of conflict and cooperation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/international-resource-politics-in-the-asia-pacific

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Resource security is a new battleground in the international politics of the Asia-Pacific. With demand for minerals and energy surging, disputes are emerging over access and control of scarce natural resource endowments.

Jeffrey Wilson shows how resources have emerged as a new cause of tension between key regional powers, including China, Japan, Indonesia, Russia and the United States. He focuses on three in-depth case studies of contemporary resource conflicts in Asia; the regional scramble for oil and gas, the ‘iron ore war’ between Australia and China, and the threat of rare earth minerals to economic and military security.

International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific will appeal to students and academics of international political economy, international relations and Asian studies. It will also be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, managers and analysts of the Asia-Pacific region

Contents

  1. Introduction: Asia-Pacific resource politics between boom and crisis?
  2. Natural resources in international politics
  3. Consumer politics – resource mercantilism
  4. Producer politics – resource nationalism
  5. Regional politics – soft law cooperation
  6. The Northeast Asian scramble for resources
  7. The Australia-China iron ore war
  8. Securitising rare earth minerals
  9. Conclusion: Asia-Pacific resource politics from boom to bust?

Critical acclaim

‘Jeffrey Wilson’s book masterfully explains how domestic interests and economic imperatives combine in securitizing resource politics in the Asia-Pacific. The book is theoretically intriguing, extremely rich in its empirical analysis, and an excellent read. A must-have for scholars of international security and anyone interested in the emerging epicenter of global resource politics.’
Andreas Goldthau, Royal Holloway University of London, UK

‘Few topics will be of greater importance to countries in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming decades than resource security. In this meticulously researched book, Jeffrey Wilson provides a comprehensive investigation of resource politics in the region, arguing persuasively that these are best explained through understanding the domestic and international factors that lead to the securitisation of resource issues.’
John Ravenhill, University of Waterloo, Canada

‘Jeffrey Wilson should be congratulated for having produced an extremely impressive manuscript on a timely topic that is garnering ever more attention. Academics have perhaps been less quick than political commentators to catch on to the significance of international resource politics in the Asia-Pacific region, but here Wilson blazes a trail for IPE scholars who hope to get to grips with the issue. His book provides a compelling account of what is at stake when insatiable wants meet finite resources.’
Matthew Watson, University of Warwick, UK