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:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the origins, evolution, and relevance of key security concepts in the Asia-Pacific region.
- 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.
- Identify, reconstruct and evaluate arguments in both written and oral form.
- Conduct scholarly research, express ideas, and construct arguments.
- Demonstrate open-minded and reflective thinking about the process of scholarly research.
Indicative Assessment
- Tutorial participation (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Critical Review (1,000 words) (15) [LO 2,3]
- Annotated Bibliography (1,000 words) (15) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Research Plan & Reflection (1,000 words) (20) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Research Essay (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
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.
Workload
This course comprises some 130 hours of activity over 12 weeks, including some 24 hours of lectures or an equivalent activity and some 11 hours of tutorials or equivalent activity. The course comprises a maximum of 6000 words of assessment or the equivalent. Please note this is a general guide, averaged over the semester and the final hours ultimately depend on the individual's ability in reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
PDF files and/or ANU Library resources will be hosted on Wattle.
Majors
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2221 | 23 Feb 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | 29 May 2026 | In Person | N/A |