The ideas, concepts, and theories we use in International Security have overwhelmingly been developed through the study of Western historical cases. Yet key security challenges and practices in the Asia-Pacific region do not always accord with concepts derived in the West. In this course, students will explore how the Asia-Pacific region challenges or complements existing security concepts, such as order & hierarchy, history & memory, alliances, reputation & credibility, and economics & security. We will consider the relevance of these concepts to security in the Asia-Pacific region by exploring case studies such as: the historical prevalence of hierarchical orders in Asia, the role of history and memory in shaping regional security challenges, the history (and future) of alliances in Asia, how reputation and credibility have influenced the US presence in Asia, and the curious nexus between economics and security in the region.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the origins, evolution, and relevance of key security concepts in the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Employ different security concepts to analyse and explain key international security issues in the Asia-Pacific, and reflect critically on the relative merits of these concepts.
3. Identify, reconstruct and evaluate arguments in both written and oral form.
4. Conduct scholarly research, express ideas, and construct arguments.
5. Demonstrate open-minded and reflective thinking about the process of scholarly research.

Research-Led Teaching

Lectures 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and 11 draw on the Convenor's research into China-Japan relations, international order, the economics-security nexus, and history and memory in Asia. Lectures 7 and 8 will draw on the guest lecturer's research on reliability, credibility and US alliances in Asia. The lectures, tutorials and scaffolded assessment items provide students with the frameworks and skills to learn to conduct and reflect upon their own scholarly research.

Recommended Resources

There are no compulsory textbooks for this course, though students may wish to read Saadia M. Pekkanen, John Ravenhill and Rosemary Foot (Eds). The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia. New York, Oxford University Press, 2014.  This book is available online through the ANU Library.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Written comments
• Verbal comments
• Feedback to the whole class, to groups, to individuals, focus groups

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Lecture 1 & Tutorial 1. Introduction to the Course &Concepts: order and hierarchy	Tutorials will commence in Week 1, with the tutorial topic taking place in the SAME week as the lecture (i.e. Tutorials in Week 1 will focus on: Concepts: order and hierarchy) The Lecture structure reinforces the Critical Thinking skill of evaluating concepts and claims, and drawing together conceptual and empirical analysis, through its 2-part “fortnightly” structure: in the first week of each fortnight, students study the origins and evolution of a key security concept derived largely from Western historical cases (e.g. “alliances”); in the second week of each fortnight, students examine key empirical cases from the Asia-Pacific region as a way to reflect on the merits of the security concept and the ways in which Asia-Pacific cases challenge, complement or refine these Western concepts, or require the creation of new concepts.
2	Lecture 2 & Tutorial 2. Case studies: order and hierarchy in early modern, post-World War II, and post-Cold War Asia
3	Lecture 3 & Tutorial 3. Concepts: history and memory
4	Lecture 4 & Tutorial 4. Case studies: China-Japan relations, Japan-South Korea relations, Taiwan
5	Lecture 5 & Tutorial 5. Concept: alliances
6	Lecture 6 & Tutorial 6. Case studies: U.S. bilateral alliances, SEATO, the Quad
7	Lecture 7 & Tutorial 7. Concepts: reputation and credibility
8	No lecture or tutorials this week	Mon 27 April 2026: ANZAC Day Public HolidayThere will be no lecture or tutorials this week.
9	Lecture 8 & Tutorial 8. Case studies: Vietnam War, First Taiwan Strait Crisis
10	Lecture 9 & Tutorial 9. Concepts: economics and security
11	Lecture 10 & Tutorial 10. Case studies: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia
12	Lecture 11 & Tutorial 11: Concluding Lecture: Conceptualizing security in the Asia-Pacific

Tutorial Registration

Via My Timetable

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Tutorial participation	10 %	*	*	1, 2, 3, 5
Using Concepts	20 %	11/03/2026	31/03/2026	1, 2, 3, 4
Research Essay and Reflection	40 %	21/04/2026	12/05/2025	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Final Exam	30 %	*	*	1, 2, 3, 4

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

Tutorial participation is assessed.

Examination(s)

There is a final, in-person, invigilated examination in this course.

Assessment Task 1

Tutorial participation

In this task, students are required to participate in tutorials by completing weekly readings and using these to contribute towards a lively tutorial discussion.

Critical Thinking Graduate Attribute: Tutorial questions and activities have been developed to enable students to reflect critically on the relative merits of the five key security concepts studied in the course.

Assessment Task 2

Using Concepts

Using Concepts (short answer; total of 1000 words)

Using the four provided texts, please answer the following questions:

1. How does Alagappa define order, and what are the key elements in his definition of order? (150 words)
2. According to Alagappa, what are ‘rules’ and how do we know when rules are governing international interactions between states? (250 words)
3. Using the texts provided, provide your assessment of whether rules are governing international interactions between states in the Asia-Pacific region? Why/Why not? (600 words)

The following prompts may assist you in answering this question:

• Do the governments of China, Japan, and Australia agree on the rules comprising international order?
• What are the rules identified in these texts? In which institutions, laws, or practices are these rules located?
• When did these rules emerge, or are they in the process of formation and change?
• What goals and values do these rules seek to promote?
• What happens when these rules are violated?

 

Please note:

• Answers should be written in your own words, with quotes used sparingly.
• Please write in full sentences (not dotpoints).  
• It is not necessary to undertake additional research for this assessment task, beyond reading the nominated texts.
• Please provide full referencing in your answers. 

The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific’s Word Length and Excess Word Penalty Guidelines applies to this assessment item and can be found here.

Students should follow Chicago Style Referencing (Chicago 17th Edition (Note) for all pieces of assessment in this course. Further details and resources to support Chicago Style Referencing can be found here.

Critical Thinking Graduate Attribute: this task forms the first step in a series of scaffolded pieces of assessment designed to develop critical thinking skills and make use of security concepts. In this task, students are required to develop critical analysis skills by identifying the argument and defining the security concept advanced in an academic text; reconstruct the key elements of that argument and concept (i.e. demonstrating the steps and form of the argument’s reasoning); and make connections between the concept and empirical evidence (drawing on prompt questions designed to help students practice “operationalising” a concept, and using a discrete corpus of empirical evidence provided by the Course Convenor). The Week 2 lecture will involve discussion of Critical Thinking, with additional Critical Thinking resources provided.

Assessment Task 3

Research Essay and Reflection

Part 1: Research Essay (2000 words)

In a 2000-word essay, answer one question from the options listed on the Canvas site.

Part 2: Reflection (500 words)

Reflect on your personal experience of the process of conducting this research. Some prompts to help you get started in writing this section include, but are not limited to:

• What dead-ends or challenges did you face in your research process? These might include issues such as time management, finding sources, learning to read academic writing, changing research essay questions, building on feedback from the Using Concepts assessment task, etc.
• What have you done in response to these dead-ends or challenges?
• What skills did you already bring to this research task, and what skills have you needed to learn?
• Anything else?

 

The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific’s Word Length and Excess Word Penalty Guidelines applies to this assessment item and can be found here.

Students should follow Chicago Style Referencing (Chicago 17th Edition (Note) for all pieces of assessment in this course. Further details and resources to support Chicago Style Referencing can be found here.

Critical Thinking Graduate Attribute: this task forms the second step in a series of scaffolded pieces of assessment designed to develop critical thinking skills, and to conduct and reflect upon the processes underpinning academic research. In this task, students must produce a research essay that uses one of the key security concepts in this course to analyse and explain an international security issue in the Asia-Pacific; to reflect on how they have gone about finding evidence to develop their arguments (including the search terms, and the strengths/limitations of those search terms); to reflect on the challenges or dead-ends they have faced in the research process so far (which may include time management, finding sources, changing topics, building on feedback from the Using Concept assessment, etc); and to discuss what they have done in response to these challenges or dead-ends. The Week 4 & 5 lectures will involve discussion of Reflective Writing, with additional Reflective Writing resources provided.

Assessment Task 4

Final Exam

Final Exam

The course will conclude with a final, in-person, invigilated examination.

• Write essay answers to two questions. Each question is of equal value.
• Each question is clearly labelled as relating to one of the security concepts we have studied in the course. You may not answer a question if it is the same concept you chose for the Research Essay.
• If you answer an exam question on the same concept as your Research Essay, your grade for that question will be reduced by 30%.
• Write in complete sentences: dot points will not suffice.
• The best exam answers will make reference to authors we have studied in this course (e.g. “Jennifer Lind has argued that…”), but you do not need to include footnotes, a page reference, or a bibliography.
• There is no word limit or minimum word requirement. Answers should be of sufficient length to provide a solid answer to the question and an examination of the evidence needed to support your answer. 1000 words per question should be sufficient. Write more if you wish, but HD answers can be achieved in 1000 words. Don’t waffle. Confine your argument to the critical and important factors. Keep your introductions and conclusions short and sweet, but useful. 

Critical Thinking Graduate Attribute: this task forms the third and final step in a series of scaffolded pieces of assessment designed to develop critical thinking skills, and to conduct academic research. In this task, students must answer two exam-based essay questions relating to the key security concepts in this course. The exam questions will require students to analyse and explain an international security issue in the Asia-Pacific, and reflect critically on the relative merits of this concept.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Under normal circumstances, assignments will be marked and return to students within three weeks of the due date.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

"Recycling" is submitting work that is not original (i.e. that you have previously submitted) and is not permitted. See this website for more information.

Resubmission of assignments permitted only in exceptional circumstances and as approved by the Course Convenor.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students