Internationalisation, Education and Development Cooperation in East Asia

Monday, March 27, 2023 | 11:50-12:35 | Orion Hall (5F)

East Asia (defined here as including both Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia) is a region that has contributed greatly to the concept of an “Asia-Pacific Century.” This focus has been justified by the East Asian economic development “miracle,” the absence of interstate war in the “long peace of East Asia,” and an “Eastphalian peace.” Reference has also been made to East Asia’s other miracle, the decline of mass atrocities, while Freedom House notes that it is the only region of the world to have made significant gains in political freedoms in recent years. Education has been core to the regional “miracles,” and the governments of development success stories have looked to export their models through education, training, and development cooperation. Yet, many obstacles remain to a true internationalisation of higher education, and to the transfer of lessons to other countries in the region. These include a paucity of resources, a shortage of publishing outlets, language barriers, an emphasis on hard sciences and disciplines that promote economic growth (econophoria), and relatedly, the pull of policy-relevant work that offers greater prestige and financial rewards. In some cases, nationalism, and in other cases, a subaltern relationship to the West (sometimes both together), restrict regional educational and development cooperation. This presentation will discuss some of these issues and shortcomings, but also suggest opportunities for overcoming the challenges.

Brendan Howe

Brendan Howe is Dean and Professor of the Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, South Korea, where he has also served two terms as Associate Dean and Department Chair. He is also currently the President of the Asian Political and International Studies Association, and an Honorary Ambassador of Public Diplomacy and advisor for the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has held visiting professorships and research fellowships at the East-West Center (where he is currently enjoying a second term as a POSCO Visiting Research Fellow), the Freie Universität Berlin, De La Salle University, the University of Sydney, Korea National Defence University, Georgetown University, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, and Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Educated at the University of Oxford, the University of Kent at Canterbury, Trinity College Dublin, and Georgetown University, his ongoing research agendas focus on traditional and non-traditional security in East Asia, human security, middle powers, public diplomacy, post-crisis development, comprehensive peacebuilding and conflict transformation. He has authored, co-authored, or edited around 100 related publications including Society and Democracy in South Korea and Indonesia (Palgrave, 2022), The Niche Diplomacy of Asian Middle Powers (Lexington Books, 2021), UN Governance: Peace and Human Security in Cambodia and Timor-Leste (Springer, 2020), Regional Cooperation for Peace and Development (Routledge, 2018), National Security, State Centricity, and Governance in East Asia (Springer, 2017), Peacekeeping and the Asia-Pacific (Brill, 2016), Democratic Governance in East Asia (Springer, 2015), Post-Conflict Development in East Asia (Ashgate, 2014), and The Protection and Promotion of Human Security in East Asia (Palgrave, 2013).