BOOK REVIEW

Hongyi Lai (ed): Asian Energy Security:The Maritime DimensionNewYork, NY: PalgraveMacmillan, 2009, 236p. $95.00 hardback

Vitaly Kozyrev

Published online: 3 March 2012# Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies 2012

Energy security is broadly considered to be a critical component for the formation ofa new international order in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on material from theworkshops for the Network of East Asian Think Tanks (NEAT) Working Group onEnergy Security Cooperation in East Asia in Singapore in 2005–2006, Asian EnergySecurity introduces the previously less-explored perspective of the littoral states inSoutheast Asia and enables the reader to ascertain the growing relationship betweenenergy security and maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. While avoidingunequivocal statements, the seven authors of this study clearly regard issues ofmaritime and energy security as a web of complex relationships, in which rivalinterests of the key regional stakeholders have been increasingly overlapped by theircooperative aspirations grounded in common concerns and shared interests. Thisapproach questions the perceived linkage between surging oil demands among thedeveloping countries – major consumers of fossil fuels – and the inevitability ofconflict, regional instability and even global resource wars, as many experts predictedin 2001–2005 (See Klare (2001) and Herberg (2004)). The book also insists that inthe ongoing process of deepening multilateral interactions between the major powersand secondary states in East Asia, the role of the littoral states as both providers ofpublic goods at sea and partners in addressing common security threats has grownsignificantly. While noting concerns about potential unilateral measures by majorplayers to secure sea lanes, the study suggests that it is the littoral states that may beable to “intelligently manage rivalry among powers” (21) and persuade them tocontribute to the global good of maritime security.

In nine chapters, the authors explain the rationale behind multilateral solutions toenergy and maritime security issues and describe the context in which regionaleconomies are able to secure stable oil supply and trade through “concerted efforts,multilateralism, and fair sharing of responsibilities” (22). Contrary to a popularargument that China’s surge of oil demand would lead to a clash with other oil

J OF CHIN POLIT SCI (2012) 17:217–218DOI 10.1007/s11366-012-9194-2

V. Kozyrev (*)Endicott College, Beverly, MA, USAe-mail: vitaly.kozyrev@gmail.com

consumers (Michael Klare), the study maintains that China, despite some concernsabout American and Japanese military involvement in the maritime security situationin the Malacca Straits, has demonstrated its willingness to “disentangle territorialdisputes from normal energy cooperation” and to cooperate with its Asian rivals inmaritime and energy security (42). Beijing’s mercantilist (rather than market-oriented) oil strategy in the global markets is explained in the volume as a rationalchoice by the Chinese government, whose policies are constrained by some domesticinstitutional factors. Another big player in the Asian energy market, Japan, is praisedin the book for significantly ensuring energy security and helping to reduce politicaltensions and energy nationalism in the region (129). Being able to reconcile its policyof economic nationalism and its desire to protect global public goods for the maritimecommunity, Tokyo represents a good example of productive cooperation with thelittoral states in Southeast Asia.

Interesting insights are presented in the chapters describing the legal aspects ofenergy and maritime security, the problems of safety and traffic patterns in the straits,and the national, bilateral and multilateral mechanisms of cooperation in the spheresof energy and maritime security. One notable suggestion argues that the effectivenessof any burden-sharing mechanism in the region would be significantly improved ifthe littoral states (Indonesia and Malaysia in particular) pursued a more proactivestrategy of enhancing practical and legal collaboration with other stakeholders.Another proposal considers joint development of energy resources in Asia by allrelated parties, which is desperately needed to promote more multilateral initiativesthat could open the way for the judicial settlement of disputes at sea.

Despite the authors’ remarkable achievements, some key “strategic” elements ofthe great energy game in Asia, central to the topic, are underrepresented in thevolume. To adequately evaluate China’s or Japan’s initiatives to enhance regionalcooperation or even to establish a nascent East Asian community, more should bedone to study the broader international context and background, including the role ofother primary players in the Asia-Pacific region such as the U.S., India, and Russia, inaddressing energy and maritime security issues.

Overall, Asian Energy Security is another step forward in the analysis of theprospects of regional stability and the contours of an emerging East Asian regional-ism. It is a valuable source of empirical data and of important developments in thesphere of energy and maritime security. It may be effectively used by students ofinternational security, governmental experts, business people, and the broader publicinterested in the new role of a rapidly developing economic “powerhouse” in Asia.

Dr. Vitaly Kozyrev is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at EndicottCollege, Beverly, MA. His recent publications include the chapters for the following monograph studies:The Chinese Labyrinth: Exploring China’s Model of Development (Roman and Littlefield-Lexington,2011), China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Beijing’s Maritime Policies (Naval Academy Press,2009), Normalization of U.S.-China Relations: An International History (Harvard University Press,2006), The Modern History of China (Ksiegarnia Akademicka, Krakow, 2006). His research interests areRusso-Chinese relations, regionalism and international security in East Asia. He also serves as Associate inresearch at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.

218 V. Kozyrev