Securitising health crises on regional cooperation: Hindering or facilitating cooperation?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss2pp557-576Abstract
The Securitisation Theory (ST) often gives rise to the debate on positive and negative dimensions of security. ST is frequently quoted in this debate to explore what happens when threats are labelled security issues. The positive and negative points in the debate on ST are closely related to migration, environment, and health. However, like other International Relations (IR) theories, the ST debate often fails to reflect the voices and experiences of different regional contexts. This article contributed to the securitisation debates by adding the perspectives and experiences of the Southeast Asia region by applying critical literature review analysis, using primary and secondary sources for data collection. Although public health challenges are global phenomena, how they are addressed may vary across geographical regions. The article reviews the consequences of securitising contagious diseases in Southeast Asia, as the region is often associated with distinctive political cultures that shape the governing norms. Securitisation has clearly made a positive impact on the health security cooperation in the region. Instead of encouraging state-centric thinking, the securitisation of health crises has prompted ASEAN countries to be more region-centric, ultimately challenging the regional norms that have historically obstructed cooperation across the nations.
Keywords: ASEAN, health security, regional cooperation, securitisation theory, Southeast Asia.
References
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Acharya, A. (2009). Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia – ASEAN and the problem of regional order (2nd ed.). Routledge.
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Wibisono, K. (2008, June 17). ASEAN+3 perkuat jejaring informasi penyakit infeksi. Antara News. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/105929/asean-3-perkuat-jejaring-informasi-penyakit-infeksi
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Arnakim, L. Y., & Kibtiah, T. M. (2021). Response of ASEAN member states to the spread of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 729(1), 1-7.
AusAID. (2007). ASEAN emerging and resurging infections: Surveillance and response program. ASEAN. http://www.asean.org/uploads/archive/aadcp/download/project/rps/010 Brief Summary Web July 07.pdf
Ba, A. (2014). Institutional divergence and convergence in the Asia-Pacific? ASEAN in practice and in theory. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 27(2), 295–318.
Bengtsson, L., & Rhinard, M. (2019). Securitisation across borders: The case of ‘health security’ cooperation in the European Union. West European Politics, 42(2), 346–368.
Bilgin, P. (2011). The politics of studying securitization? The Copenhagen School in Turkey. Security Dialogue, 42(4–5), 399–412.
Buzan, B., Wæver, O., & de Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Caballero-Anthony, M. (2008). Non-traditional security and infectious diseases in ASEAN: Going beyond the rhetoric of securitization to deeper institutionalization. The Pacific Review, 21(4), 507–525.
Caballero-Anthony, M. (2018). Health and human security challenges in Asia: New agendas for strengthening regional health governance. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 72(6), 602–616.
Caballero-Anthony, M., & Amul, G. G. H. (2016, January 26). Keeping Ebola away from Asia: Lessons from SARS. The Straits Times (Singapore). https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/keeping-ebola-away-from-asia-lessons-learnt-from-sars
Caballero-Anthony, M., & Cook, A. B. (2013). Non-traditional security in Asia: Issues, challenges and framework for action. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Carrera, S., & Hernanz, N. (2015). Re-framing mobility and identity controls: The next generation of the EU migration management toolkit. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 30(1), 1–16.
Curley, M., & Herington, J. (2011). The securitisation of avian influenza: International discourses and domestic politics in Asia. Review of International Studies, 37(01), 141–166.
Davies, S. E. (2012). The international politics of disease reporting: Towards post-Westphalianism? International Politics, 49(5), 591–613.
Elbe, S. (2010). Haggling over viruses: The downside risks of securitizing infectious disease. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 476–485.
Emmers, R. (2003a). ASEAN and the securitization of transnational crime in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 16(3), 419–438.
Emmers, R. (2003b). Cooperative security and the balance of power in ASEAN and ARF. RoutledgeCurzon.
Emmers, R. (2017). Enduring mistrust and conflict management in Southeast Asia: An assessment of ASEAN as a security community. Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 5(1), 75–97.
Enemark, C. (2009). Is pandemic flu a security threat? Survival, 51(1), 191–214.
Fawcett, L. (2008). Regional institutions. In P.D. Williams (Ed.), Security studies: An introduction (pp. 307–324). Routledge.
Fernando, F. M., De La Rosa, J. F. E., & Quiano-Castro, M. K. (2020, May 20). COVID-19: A collective response. The ASEAN Magazine. https://theaseanmagazine.asean.org/article/covid-19-a-collective-response-in-asean/
Floyd, R. (2011). Can securitization theory be used in normative analysis? Towards a just securitization theory. Security Dialogue, 42(4–5), 427–439.
Haacke, J. (2009). The ASEAN regional forum: From dialogue to practical security cooperation? Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 22(3), 427–449.
Haacke, J., & Williams, P. D. (2008). Regional arrangements, securitization, and transnational security challenges: The African Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations compared. Security Studies, 17(4), 775–809.
Hameiri, S. (2014). Avian influenza, ‘viral sovereignty’, and the politics of health security in Indonesia. The Pacific Review, 27(3), 333–356.
Henson, B. (2003). ASEAN to take tough joint action; Leaders agree on strict measures to contain spread of SARS in region. Yale Global Online. https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/asean-take-tough-joint-action.
Herington, J. (2010). Securitization of infectious diseases in Vietnam: The cases of HIV and avian influenza. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 467–475.
Jones, D. M., & Smith, M. L. R. (2007). Making process, not progress: ASEAN and the evolving of East Asian regional order. International Security, 32(1), 148–184.
Jones, L. (2010). ASEAN’s unchanged melody? The theory and practice of ‘non-interference’ in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 23(4), 479–502.
Jones, L. (2011). Beyond securitization: Explaining the scope of security policy in Southeast Asia. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 11(3), 403–432.
Liow, J. C. (2003). The kinship factor in international relations: Kinship, identity construction, and nation formation in Indonesia-Malaysia relations [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. London School of Economics and Political Science.
Kamradt-Scott, A. (2011). The evolving WHO: Implications for global health security. Global Public Health, 6(8), 801–813.
Kamradt-Scott, A., & Lee, K. (2011). The 2011 Pandemic Influenza preparedness framework: Global health secured or a missed opportunity? Political Studies, 59(4), 831–847.
Kheng-Lian, K. (2012). Transboundary and global environmental issues: The role of ASEAN. Transnational Environmental Law, 1(01), 67–82.
Kliem, F. (2021). ASEAN and the EU amidst COVID-19: Overcoming the self-fulfilling prophecy of realism. Asia Europe Journal, 19(3), 371–389.
Lamy, M., & Phua, K. H. (2012). Southeast Asian cooperation in health: A comparative perspective on regional health governance in ASEAN and the EU. Asia Europe Journal, 10(4), 233–250.
Lo Yuk-Ping, C., & Thomas, N. (2010). How is health a security issue? Politics, responses and issues. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 447–453.
Loh, D. M. H. (2016). ASEAN’s norm adherence and its unintended consequences in HADR and SAR operations. Pacific Review, 29(4), 549–572.
Maier-Knapp, N. (2011). Regional and interregional integrative dynamics of ASEAN and EU in response to the avian influenza. Asia Europe Journal, 8(4), 541–554.
Mohd Ashraf, S. M. (2020, February 19). Fight against COVID-19: ASEAN defence ministers pledge to work together. BERNAMA. https://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1815059
Mohd Azmi, N. (2020). Health and security nexus in Southeast Asia: Collective securitisation. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 16(3), 70–82.
Nathan, K. S. (2002). Malaysia-Singapore relations: Retrospect and prospect. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 24(2), 385–410.
Pennisi di Floristella, A. (2012). Are non-traditional security challenges leading regional organizations towards greater convergence? Asia Europe Journal, 11(1), 21–38.
Peoples, C., & Vaughan-Williams, N. (2010). Critical security studies: An introduction. Routledge.
Pramudianto, A., Isnaeni, N., Intarti, Y. R., & Ayona, D. (2022). COVID-19 response and the new challenges of ASEAN regional cooperation in disaster management. Current Politics and Economics of South, Southeastern, and Central Asia, 31(1), 55–81.
Roe, P. (2012). Is securitization a ‘negative’ concept? Revisiting the normative debate over normal versus extraordinary politics. Security Dialogue, 43(3), 249–266.
Rüland, J. (2021). Covid-19 and ASEAN: Strengthening state-centrism, eroding inclusiveness, testing cohesion. International Spectator, 56(2), 72–92.
Schierhout, G., Gleeson, L., Craig, A., & Wettenhall, I. (2017). Evaluating a decade of Australia’s efforts to combat pandemics and emerging infectious diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Are health systems stronger? Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Scott, S. V. (2012). The securitization of climate change in world politics: How close have we come and would full securitization enhance the efficacy of global climate change policy? Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, 21(3), 220–230.
Selgelid, M. J., & Enemark, C. (2008). Infectious diseases, security and ethics: The case of HIV/AIDS. Bioethics, 22(9), 457–465.
Shuchman, M. (2007). Improving global health — Margaret Chan at the WHO. The New England Journal of Medicine, 356(7), 653–656.
Smallman, S. (2013). Biopiracy and vaccines: Indonesia and the World Health Organization’s new pandemic influenza plan. Journal of International and Global Studies, 4(2), 20–36.
The South Centre. (2007). The ASEAN experience: Insights for regional political cooperation. South Centre‘s Global Governance Programme for Development.
Vu, T. (2011). Epidemics as politics with case studies from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Global Health Governance, 4(2), 1–22.
Wæver, O. (1995). Securitization and desecuritization. In R.D. Lipschutz (Ed.), On security (pp. 46–86). Columbia University Press.
Yale Global Online. (2003). Fight against SARS: Government to seek exit checks. Yale Global Online. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/fight-against-sars-government-seek-exit-checks
Youde, J. (2018). The securitization of health in the Trump era. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 72(6), 535–550.
Yukawa, T. (2018). The ASEAN way as a symbol: An analysis of discourses on the ASEAN norms. The Pacific Review, 31(3), 298–314.
Zimmerman, E. (2014). Security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: Non-traditional security as a catalyst. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 10(2), 150–165.
Acharya, A. (2009). Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia – ASEAN and the problem of regional order (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Acharya, A. (2014). Remaking Southeast Asian studies: Doubt, desire and the promise of comparisons. Pacific Affairs, 87(3), 463–483.
Wibisono, K. (2008, June 17). ASEAN+3 perkuat jejaring informasi penyakit infeksi. Antara News. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/105929/asean-3-perkuat-jejaring-informasi-penyakit-infeksi
Aradau, C. (2004). Security and the democratic scene: Desecuritization and emancipation. Journal of International Relations and Development, 7(4), 388–413.
Arnakim, L. Y., & Kibtiah, T. M. (2021). Response of ASEAN member states to the spread of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 729(1), 1-7.
AusAID. (2007). ASEAN emerging and resurging infections: Surveillance and response program. ASEAN. http://www.asean.org/uploads/archive/aadcp/download/project/rps/010 Brief Summary Web July 07.pdf
Ba, A. (2014). Institutional divergence and convergence in the Asia-Pacific? ASEAN in practice and in theory. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 27(2), 295–318.
Bengtsson, L., & Rhinard, M. (2019). Securitisation across borders: The case of ‘health security’ cooperation in the European Union. West European Politics, 42(2), 346–368.
Bilgin, P. (2011). The politics of studying securitization? The Copenhagen School in Turkey. Security Dialogue, 42(4–5), 399–412.
Buzan, B., Wæver, O., & de Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Caballero-Anthony, M. (2008). Non-traditional security and infectious diseases in ASEAN: Going beyond the rhetoric of securitization to deeper institutionalization. The Pacific Review, 21(4), 507–525.
Caballero-Anthony, M. (2018). Health and human security challenges in Asia: New agendas for strengthening regional health governance. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 72(6), 602–616.
Caballero-Anthony, M., & Amul, G. G. H. (2016, January 26). Keeping Ebola away from Asia: Lessons from SARS. The Straits Times (Singapore). https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/keeping-ebola-away-from-asia-lessons-learnt-from-sars
Caballero-Anthony, M., & Cook, A. B. (2013). Non-traditional security in Asia: Issues, challenges and framework for action. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Carrera, S., & Hernanz, N. (2015). Re-framing mobility and identity controls: The next generation of the EU migration management toolkit. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 30(1), 1–16.
Curley, M., & Herington, J. (2011). The securitisation of avian influenza: International discourses and domestic politics in Asia. Review of International Studies, 37(01), 141–166.
Davies, S. E. (2012). The international politics of disease reporting: Towards post-Westphalianism? International Politics, 49(5), 591–613.
Elbe, S. (2010). Haggling over viruses: The downside risks of securitizing infectious disease. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 476–485.
Emmers, R. (2003a). ASEAN and the securitization of transnational crime in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 16(3), 419–438.
Emmers, R. (2003b). Cooperative security and the balance of power in ASEAN and ARF. RoutledgeCurzon.
Emmers, R. (2017). Enduring mistrust and conflict management in Southeast Asia: An assessment of ASEAN as a security community. Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 5(1), 75–97.
Enemark, C. (2009). Is pandemic flu a security threat? Survival, 51(1), 191–214.
Fawcett, L. (2008). Regional institutions. In P.D. Williams (Ed.), Security studies: An introduction (pp. 307–324). Routledge.
Fernando, F. M., De La Rosa, J. F. E., & Quiano-Castro, M. K. (2020, May 20). COVID-19: A collective response. The ASEAN Magazine. https://theaseanmagazine.asean.org/article/covid-19-a-collective-response-in-asean/
Floyd, R. (2011). Can securitization theory be used in normative analysis? Towards a just securitization theory. Security Dialogue, 42(4–5), 427–439.
Haacke, J. (2009). The ASEAN regional forum: From dialogue to practical security cooperation? Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 22(3), 427–449.
Haacke, J., & Williams, P. D. (2008). Regional arrangements, securitization, and transnational security challenges: The African Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations compared. Security Studies, 17(4), 775–809.
Hameiri, S. (2014). Avian influenza, ‘viral sovereignty’, and the politics of health security in Indonesia. The Pacific Review, 27(3), 333–356.
Henson, B. (2003). ASEAN to take tough joint action; Leaders agree on strict measures to contain spread of SARS in region. Yale Global Online. https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/asean-take-tough-joint-action.
Herington, J. (2010). Securitization of infectious diseases in Vietnam: The cases of HIV and avian influenza. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 467–475.
Jones, D. M., & Smith, M. L. R. (2007). Making process, not progress: ASEAN and the evolving of East Asian regional order. International Security, 32(1), 148–184.
Jones, L. (2010). ASEAN’s unchanged melody? The theory and practice of ‘non-interference’ in Southeast Asia. The Pacific Review, 23(4), 479–502.
Jones, L. (2011). Beyond securitization: Explaining the scope of security policy in Southeast Asia. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 11(3), 403–432.
Liow, J. C. (2003). The kinship factor in international relations: Kinship, identity construction, and nation formation in Indonesia-Malaysia relations [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. London School of Economics and Political Science.
Kamradt-Scott, A. (2011). The evolving WHO: Implications for global health security. Global Public Health, 6(8), 801–813.
Kamradt-Scott, A., & Lee, K. (2011). The 2011 Pandemic Influenza preparedness framework: Global health secured or a missed opportunity? Political Studies, 59(4), 831–847.
Kheng-Lian, K. (2012). Transboundary and global environmental issues: The role of ASEAN. Transnational Environmental Law, 1(01), 67–82.
Kliem, F. (2021). ASEAN and the EU amidst COVID-19: Overcoming the self-fulfilling prophecy of realism. Asia Europe Journal, 19(3), 371–389.
Lamy, M., & Phua, K. H. (2012). Southeast Asian cooperation in health: A comparative perspective on regional health governance in ASEAN and the EU. Asia Europe Journal, 10(4), 233–250.
Lo Yuk-Ping, C., & Thomas, N. (2010). How is health a security issue? Politics, responses and issues. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 447–453.
Loh, D. M. H. (2016). ASEAN’s norm adherence and its unintended consequences in HADR and SAR operations. Pacific Review, 29(4), 549–572.
Maier-Knapp, N. (2011). Regional and interregional integrative dynamics of ASEAN and EU in response to the avian influenza. Asia Europe Journal, 8(4), 541–554.
Mohd Ashraf, S. M. (2020, February 19). Fight against COVID-19: ASEAN defence ministers pledge to work together. BERNAMA. https://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1815059
Mohd Azmi, N. (2020). Health and security nexus in Southeast Asia: Collective securitisation. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 16(3), 70–82.
Nathan, K. S. (2002). Malaysia-Singapore relations: Retrospect and prospect. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 24(2), 385–410.
Pennisi di Floristella, A. (2012). Are non-traditional security challenges leading regional organizations towards greater convergence? Asia Europe Journal, 11(1), 21–38.
Peoples, C., & Vaughan-Williams, N. (2010). Critical security studies: An introduction. Routledge.
Pramudianto, A., Isnaeni, N., Intarti, Y. R., & Ayona, D. (2022). COVID-19 response and the new challenges of ASEAN regional cooperation in disaster management. Current Politics and Economics of South, Southeastern, and Central Asia, 31(1), 55–81.
Roe, P. (2012). Is securitization a ‘negative’ concept? Revisiting the normative debate over normal versus extraordinary politics. Security Dialogue, 43(3), 249–266.
Rüland, J. (2021). Covid-19 and ASEAN: Strengthening state-centrism, eroding inclusiveness, testing cohesion. International Spectator, 56(2), 72–92.
Schierhout, G., Gleeson, L., Craig, A., & Wettenhall, I. (2017). Evaluating a decade of Australia’s efforts to combat pandemics and emerging infectious diseases in Asia and the Pacific: Are health systems stronger? Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Scott, S. V. (2012). The securitization of climate change in world politics: How close have we come and would full securitization enhance the efficacy of global climate change policy? Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, 21(3), 220–230.
Selgelid, M. J., & Enemark, C. (2008). Infectious diseases, security and ethics: The case of HIV/AIDS. Bioethics, 22(9), 457–465.
Shuchman, M. (2007). Improving global health — Margaret Chan at the WHO. The New England Journal of Medicine, 356(7), 653–656.
Smallman, S. (2013). Biopiracy and vaccines: Indonesia and the World Health Organization’s new pandemic influenza plan. Journal of International and Global Studies, 4(2), 20–36.
The South Centre. (2007). The ASEAN experience: Insights for regional political cooperation. South Centre‘s Global Governance Programme for Development.
Vu, T. (2011). Epidemics as politics with case studies from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Global Health Governance, 4(2), 1–22.
Wæver, O. (1995). Securitization and desecuritization. In R.D. Lipschutz (Ed.), On security (pp. 46–86). Columbia University Press.
Yale Global Online. (2003). Fight against SARS: Government to seek exit checks. Yale Global Online. http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/fight-against-sars-government-seek-exit-checks
Youde, J. (2018). The securitization of health in the Trump era. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 72(6), 535–550.
Yukawa, T. (2018). The ASEAN way as a symbol: An analysis of discourses on the ASEAN norms. The Pacific Review, 31(3), 298–314.
Zimmerman, E. (2014). Security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: Non-traditional security as a catalyst. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 10(2), 150–165.
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2024-07-31
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Securitising health crises on regional cooperation: Hindering or facilitating cooperation?. (2024). Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 9(2), 557-576. https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss2pp557-576
