“New and Future Governance Challenges in East Asia”

Call for Papers Date: 27-28 November 2020

Provisional* Venue: College of International Studies (KIC), Kyung Hee

University (Global Campus, Yongin-si)

*In the event of COVID-19 case numbers deemed too high to safely hold an offline event, the conference will take place in the form of virtual meetings/panels

The emergence of new threats, like COVID-19, combined with fragmentary approaches dealing with already existing risks, like environmental degradation and climate change, are undermining most aspects of human security, and are challenging forms of governance that, to this day, have been taken for granted. The extent to which these threats are successfully dealt with at the local, national and international level will determine the degree to which governance will be re-shaped to promptly and adequately deal with other, equally challenging risks and insecurities.

On the one hand, the emergence of the virus and the ways in which some governments (particularly in East Asia) shored up their defences, have shown that, at times like this, governance needs to tread a fine balance between guaranteeing welfare and security without the overstepping of boundaries that leads to authoritarianism. On the other hand, continuing damage to the environment means that governments can no longer ignore issues like pollution and ecology, nor can they reject or avoid meaningful cooperation with other governments on the pretext of national security or diplomatic egoisms.

Against this backdrop, KISA’s 12th Annual Convention and APISA’s 14th Congress, in collaboration with Kyung Hee University’s Institute of International Studies (RIIS), invite papers exploring the dynamics that new and future challenges will pose to governance in East Asia. Besides the two aforementioned examples of public health and environmental security, we welcome submissions exploring (among others):

• -  bilateral relations and/or institutional cooperation;

• -  minilateralism/multilateralism;

• -  aid, development and economic security;

• -  economic policy, co-operation and antagonisms;

• -  peacebuilding, statebuilding and humanitarian interventions;

• -  cybersecurity (including fake news, propaganda, and influence operations);

• -  demographics (including migration and refugees);

• -  counterterrorism;

• -  alliance politics;

• -  strategic studies;

• -  middle powers;

• -  great power competition.

  KISA is the academic association devoted to the study of international affairs in Korea in English. APISA is Asia’s leading academic organization dealing with political and international studies broadly defined. The conference is open to scholars and students of international studies, as well as practitioners in the field. Thanks to generous support from the Institute for International and Area Studies of Ewha Womans University; the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung; and Kyung Hee University’s Institute of International Studies, there will be no registration fees for participants. Selected submissions will be considered for publication in the Asian International Studies Review (asianisr.org).

  Submissions should include an abstract (150 words) and a short bio, and should be emailed to kisa.apisa2020@gmail.com by October 9. Accepted participants will be required to submit their papers/presentations by November 22.

  Applicants are requested to state their preference for online or offline presence when submitting their abstracts. Accepted participants will be notified about the conference’s structure (online, offline or partially online) by November 5th.