G. Shabbir Cheema, Christopher A. McNally, and Vesselin Popovsky (eds). Cross‑border
governance in Asia : regional issues and
mechanisms. Tokyo and New York: United Nations University Press. 2011.
著者（英） Aysun Uyar Makibayashi journal or
publication title
Doshisha Global and Regional Studies Review
number 11
page range 93‑100
year 2018‑10‑25
権利（英） Doshisha Society for Global and Regional Studies
URL http://doi.org/10.14988/pa.2018.0000000275
and Vesselin Popovsky (eds).
Cross-Border Governance in Asia:
Regional Issues and Mechanisms.
Tokyo and New York: United Nations University Press. 2011.
Aysun UYAR MAKIBAYASHI
Cross-Border Governance in Asia (xvii+322 pp., ISBN: 978-92-808-1193-3) is an edited book put together by G. Shabbir Cheema, Christopher A.
McNally, and Vesselin Popovsky as part of a series on trends and innovations in governance in Asia. The series was produced in collaboration with the East-West Center’s Asia-Pacific Governance and Democracy Initiative (AGDI) and the United Nations University (UNU) Institute for Sustainability and Peace. The book project was mainly funded and supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through its project on Cross-Border Governance (CBGov), the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacifi c, and the Asia-Pacific Regional Hub. The volume focuses on how globalization processes have changed cross-border government into a multilevel cooperation course of communicating nation-states, local agencies, civil- society organizations, regional governance mechanisms, and UN agencies along complex and contextualized issues of common concern. Indeed, this volume has been put together through consultations with the UN agencies and projects, and country representatives at international organizations like the World Health Organizations, the International Labour Organization, the
Doshisha Global and Regional Studies Review, 11, 2018: 93−100.
Doshisha Society for Global and Regional Studies © Aysun UYAR MAKIBAYASHI
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International Organization for Migration, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as a peculiar example of how the recent complex web of interconnections has transformed the way of traditional cross-border management into a communicative governance that requires regional dialogue, consultations among relevant stakeholders, innovative cooperation, and trust-building among the parties, including the above-mentioned international organizations to reach functional solutions on urgent issues along borders.
The volume starts with an introduction on globalization and its concurrent impact on cross-border governance. There are fi ve case studies on the current cross-border issues of governance in Asia and the Pacifi c. The movement of people, health cooperation on epidemic and infectious diseases, water management, trade promotion and human development, and human traffi cking are covered in the following chapters. The book was edited in 2011 and it might be said that it is already outdated. But the main topic of globalization and cross-border governance and the main message that cross- border issues cannot be solved by individual state intiatives and there is a need to further conceptualize the recent issues and institutions, are still pertinent and necessary to discuss since there is still a strong need to understand and work on cross-border governance in Asia and especially in the Pacifi c region. Policy recommendations are covered in each and the last chapter about further conceptualization of the current issues and institutions, data collection and dissemination, and trust-building cooperation are still relevant given any ongoing cross-border mechanism in any region.
In addition to migration, disease surveillance, water management, trade cooperation, and human traffi cking, there are other issues, including market access for less developed countries, human rights, human security, transboundary energy resources, climate change and other regional
environmental problems, regional investment initiatives, regional aid, and debt relief for countries in need, mentioned in different parts of the book.
The volume aims to describe institutional arrangements at both national and regional levels, review relevant government policies and policy-making processes, assess recent legal frameworks and equity considerations, and discuss the role of civil society and media in raising awareness on commonly-shared issues at national and regional levels (p.2). It specifi cally underlines the role of civil society organizations by looking at their new defi nition in line with the 21st century globalization and global governance courses. The introductory chapter outlines these targets and also raises four questions as the methodological approach of the book while looking at those fi ve issues of cross-border governance mechanisms. These questions are specifi cally focusing on the key and emerging issues of migration, cross- border health cooperation, cross-boundary water management, regional trade integration, and human traffi cking, current regional governance mechanisms to cope with these issues, how effective these regional, national, and local governance capacities in responding to these issues, and fi nally what factors contribute to the success and failure of these mechanisms for future reference (p.3-4).
The introductory chapter well explains the overall structure of the book and ends with a convincing argument that the concept of governance, which communicates regional international bodies, national and local governments, civil society movements, and private sectors and aims to reach consolidated approaches to bring functional and appropriate solutions to their shared problems, has captured the attention of global society during the last two decades. Practice of governance-initiated reforms in the sphere of traditional public administration in both national and local governments. Then it has been taken to an international level through UN agencies and their policy implementations at various regional governance platforms. According to the
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volume, the last phase of governance is being epxerienced along cross- border management practices of regional and international collaboration with the impact of globalization.
Chapter 2 looks at the recent changes in migration trends by focusing on international migration and refugee crises in the region. Although the fi gures compiled during the time of publication have already changed, the main argument of the chapter, i.e. Asia is the most dynamic and mobile yet one of the most immature regions in terms of governing cross-border migration and refugee issues, is still relevant today. “Managed migration” is introduced to underline the need for more integrated consultation processes to link regional frameworks with national and local governments. The chapter also emphasizes an increasing stance of NGOs and other civil society initiatives to be able to protect people on the move from the negative effects of illegal and excessive migration in both host and home countries, as well as promote inclusive policies for immigrants through social and cultural networks.
Chapter 3 looks at another dynamic channel of cross-border interaction, i.e.
health cooperation about epidemic and infectious diseases through the case of Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network. Since the region is one of the most active regions in terms of the movement of people, goods, and animals along various and environmentally-different sub-regions, it is easy for viruses and transnational fl ows to turn into an international pandemic crisis with unprecedented speed. For this reason, it is important for the actors of cross-border governance, both states and non-states, to take immediate measures, focus on preparedness for any sudden outbreak, and continue on monitoring. It is also underlined in the chapter that the shift from “control at the border” to “control at the source” is a critical phase that requires contributions from local governments and civil society organizations.
Chapter 4 looks at water governance at the regional level in order to provide an example of cross-border communication about changing environmental conditions and consequential problems within corresponding ecosystems of the region. The general framework why water resources and water management policies are crucial within the process of anthropogenic change in the 21st century, is outlined in a classical way that the reader can fi nd the same agenda about any environmental issue. At the same time, the author of this chapter highlights the interdisciplinarity of water resource management issues and then underlines the importance of environmental, economic, social and legal aspects of any framework that has to be done for cross- border management. Chapter 5 turns to a traditional regional cooperation case of trade promotion and links the regional economic cooperation processes, of ASEAN and the others, to human development, alleviation of poverty (another cronic problem in the region), and economic collaboration issues. Social safety nets provided at the national level for the protection of mobile laborers and traditional sectors like agriculture are some of the policy suggestions underlined in this chapter.
Human traffi cking and human rights are the issues scrutinized as the last case-study of the book in Chapter 6. Ongoing problems like the lack of any regional cooperation mechanism on human traffi cking, and the gender aspect of underground migration markets are discussed in the chapter with a concluding argument that there is a need to improve existing intra- and inter- state governance mechanisms, develop regional legal frameworks, and communicate international organizations, mainly relevant UN bodies, governmental policies, civil-society initiatives and donors to improve the already existing regional regimes on human traffi cking. The chapter also connects the current issues of human traffi cking to two of the encompassing and transnational frameworks of “human security” and “human rights”
within the agenda of regional cross-border governance.
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Each chapter skillfully focuses on the four pillars: institutions at national, local and regional levels, government policies, legal frameworks, and the roles of civil society and media in promoting mobility and raising awareness of cross-border governance. Each topical chapter does not only provide mere examination of recent mechanisms and their problematic aspects, but they also highlight the potentials of current cross-border management frameworks for future and enhanced collaboration. For example, the migration chapter underlines the lack of data for the immense presence of illegal and underground migration. For this reason, the chapter author argues that it is and will be diffi cult to tackle with the already existing and deeply rooted system of vested interests between the partners of illegal migration. It is also important, as the author mentions, to remind the policy makers and cross- border governance initiators that there are positive sides of migration for both host and home countries. Again, an analysis of health surveillance network in the Mekong River Basin concludes that joint health coordination may promote further functional cooperation on other issues of common concern in the region. Indeed, the Mekong River Basin, the Indus River Basin, and the river complex of Central Asia are given as three main cases of surveillance and monitoring platforms in Asia and they can further encourage the riparian states to deepen their interaction on other potential trans- boundary environmental and cross-border issues. Trade promotion is also given in its specific chapter as one potential opportunity for improving regional human development and raising the quality of economic interactions both in national and regional markets.
The concluding chapter starts with the common fi ndings underlined in each case-study chapter. Intensifi cation of cross-border issues, contextualization of cross-border governance mechanisms while focusing on solution-oriented frameworks, and the increasing complexity with various actors and conceptual clouds that prevents the actors from grasping the core of issues
and makes it even more diffi cult to be able to fi nd pathways to solutions are listed as those commonalities. Then the book ends with possible policy suggestions for the betterment of current and future cross-border governance practices. First of all, a rather comprehensive conceptualization of the reasons, actors, and potential policy directions about those complex issues is given as one critical suggestion to establish more dynamic and interactive institutions and raise public awareness about those commonly shared problems. Information sharing between local and national governments, and regional mechanisms, as well as the inclusion of civil society movements in the policy-making consultation processes is underlined as another methodological suggestion. As problems of data collection and sharing are detailed in the human trafficking chapter, the gathering, processing and dissemination of information is crucial for more solution-oriented negotiations and the establishment of more systematic institutions.
Promoting cooperation with more comprehensive commitments and the initiation of trust-building practices in existing mechanisms are the other examples of policy recommendations made by the authors.
More than seven years have already passed since the publication of this book and it is obvious that the data is out of date to take the data part as a direct reference. But the book still stands as one of the most informative and comprehensive volumes ever written on cross-border governance and its dynamics in Asia. There are redundant parts in chapters as most of the introductory sections pay too much emphasis on the conceptual and general framework of each concept, like the defi nition of migration or recent regional trade agreements in Asia and the Pacifi c and it sometimes misleads the reader about the direction of the book. Yet, the book is still one the most informative compilations with its broad categorization of the current issues of cross-border governance and future policy recommendations about institutions, policies, legal frameworks and civil-society and media
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interactions of regional cooperation. The methodological setting and future policy projections underlining the interdependency of multiple actors during the recent phase of globalization in regard to cross-border governance can be taken as a model not only for Asia but for the other regions as well.