The paper examines the approaches to management and settlement of inter-state disputes and their implications for regional collaboration in the Southeast Asian Region. The focus of the paper is on approaches to management and settlement of border and territorial disputes between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). First the paper provides an overview of achievements in management and settlement as well as of remaining challenges of unsettled disputes. Then the paper outlines the core elements of ASEAN’s framework of dispute settlement mechanisms. In assessing the implications for regional collaboration, the focal point of analysis is on the relationship between bilateral approaches and the regional framework for dispute settlement established through ASEAN. A key dimension is an assessment of whether bilateral approaches strengthen or weaken the ASEAN framework.

Managing the situation in the South China Sea has proven to be difficult. In this context the role that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can play is of particular interest. Some of the complexities involved were displayed at the recent ASEAN meetings held in Cambodia.

The paper examines dispute settlement in practice through an overview of developments in the South China Sea region. It first studies dispute settlement arrangements from the international legal perspectives by examining the Charter of the United Nations and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As a case study, the South China Sea region is assessed in regard to progress made and challenges persisted in dispute settlement and conflict management. The progress made is outlined through an overview of settled and managed territorial disputes in the South China Sea and adjacent area, followed by an analysis of settlement and management approaches. The challenge of the unsettled disputes is analysed and assessed by highlighting both the nature of the disputes and the efforts in managing them. The paper is concluded by a broader assessment of the progress made in terms of dispute settlement as well as of the remaining challenges in the South China Sea region from the perspectives of dispute settlement, in light of the international legal mechanisms.

The paper analyses the impact of domestic political change on ethnic minorities through a case study of the ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. The paper examines the major political developments and changes in Cambodia since the 1950s and their impact on the situation of the ethnic Vietnamese in the country. Anti-Vietnamese sentiments have not only been regularly displayed by the Cambodian elite but also been reflected in the policies of the Cambodian authorities. The roots of these attitudes and their effects on policies are explored in the paper. The anti-Vietnamese discourse in Cambodia shows that the Cambodia elite’s perceptions of Vietnam as a state influence their attitudes towards the ethnic Vietnamese minority and these attitudes influence the policy-making relating to the minority. Discriminatory policies implemented by the Cambodian authorities and attacks instigated by such policies led to the virtual elimination of the Vietnamese minority in the 1970s, when some 420,000 Vietnamese were either expelled or had to flee to Vietnam. In the 1980s there was a trend that ethnic Vietnamese returned to Cambodia. Politically motivated attacks on ethnic Vietnamese were carried out on a number of occasions in the 1990s and they posed a real threat to the Vietnamese community. The domestic political discourse in Cambodia has displayed anti-Vietnamese rhetoric directed not only at Vietnam but also at the ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia. This is in particular the case regarding some opposition parties. The continuity and/or change in such discourse and its implications are explored in the paper.

The paper investigates how maritime peace in East Asia can be enhanced through the Charter of the United Nations. This is done through an examination of two key norms of the Charter, the prohibition of the use of force in inter-state relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The empirical application of these principles and their possible impact on maritime peace in the East Asia region is studied through the foreign policy of China and through the principles governing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This is motivated by the fact that both China and ASEAN put strong emphasis on non-use of force in inter-state relations and peaceful settlement of inter-state disputes. The paper examines the possible impact of the policies of the major external actor, i.e. the United States of America (USA). The paper is concluded by a broader discussion on the linkage between non-use of force and peaceful settlement of disputes and the promotion of maritime peace in East Asia.

The paper explores the multifaceted challenges to human security in Vietnam. It takes into account the fact that Vietnam had to endure major armed conflicts in the 20^th century. The paper highlights one of the neglected human security tragedies in Vietnam namely the mass-exodus of ethnic Chinese in the late 1970s and its enduring legacy. It also addresses other more generally acknowledged challenges such as the continued impact of past-militarised conflicts in particular the effects of the extensive use of Agent Orange by the United States of America during the so-called Vietnam War. The paper also looks at the new challenges to human security that have emerged in Vietnam following the end of regional conflicts, the end of isolation by leading western powers and the deepening of renovation and reform, i.e. the period since the early 1990s. The challenges include growing income gap and disparity between different segment of the population and uneven economic development between different regions.

The paper examines if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can play a role in the context of intra-state conflicts and processes of political regime change in the Southeast Asian Region. The paper first outlines the ASEAN framework for regional collaboration with a focus on the conflict management dimension and on the principles guiding inter-state behaviour. The paper then analyses the possible role that ASEAN can assume to act in the intra-state context within the limits set for its actions by its member states. The paper also discusses how strictly the principles adopted and professed by ASEAN and its member states have been applied in practice. The paper is concluded by a summary of the main findings and a broader discussion.

The paper examines recent developments in the South China Sea through two bilateral relationships – China-Vietnam and China-Philippines – respectively. The paper first outlines recent developments in both bilateral relations relating to the South China Sea. The nature of the events causing tension is identified and the way in which the events have been managed is examined. Particular attention is devoted to the management or lack of management mechanisms in the two bilateral relationships. Possible differences between the two relationships will be explored with the aim of assessing whether relevant variations in management mechanisms can be explained by such differences. The paper is concluded by a summary of the main findings and some observations.

This study examines recent developments in the South China Sea through a case study of the China-Vietnam relationship. The study outlines and examines how China and Vietnam deal with tensions relating to their territorial disputes in the South China Sea. It looks specifically at the tension caused by incidents in late May and early June 2011 and how the tension was brought under control by the two countries. These developments are examined in the broader context of the Sino-Vietnamese approach to managing border disputes since full normalisation of relations in late 1991. The implications and lessons drawn from the developments in May-June 2011 as well as from the broader period since late 1991 are outlined. Furthermore, the challenges for China and Vietnam to properly manage their disputes and related tension in the South China Sea are discussed.