Suchergebnisse

To understand whether ideas matter in international politics and if they can be agents of systemic transformation, one must examine the debate about the "benevolent" hegemony of the United States. Supporters of moral American hegemony claim that the spread of its moral values worldwide will bring about an international transformation. In short, hegemony serves a universal good. A similar claim has been made about the ancient international system of South Asia. The claim here is that the rule of Asoka—the Indian ruler credited with spreading Buddhism and nonviolence to the rest of the world—was committed to the collective good and to the propagation of an ethical code of conduct— dhamma. On this view, Asokan moral hegemony produced a peaceful South Asia. Against this view, this article shows how ideational variables such as dhamma were bound up with material interests to serve the strategic goals of Asokan hegemony in the international system of South Asia. It lends support to the realist conception of the world where strategic deployment of ideational variables and material interests enhance state power, thereby offering the best explanation of seemingly moral behavior.

Why do the natives of Sabah oppose the internal migration of natives from the rest of Malaysia? Why is being "native" not enough? The hostility is in direct contrast to what most scholars know about Malaysia: a multiethnic country with successful preferential policies for its natives-the "sons of the soil." In a plural state like Malaysia, there are competing native claims on citizenship. Here, regional natives (Kadazandusun from Sabah) contest claims by federal natives (Malays). The conflicts over culture, economy, and political power fracture a national citizenship into its regional and federal parts, pitting native against native. In particular, regional natives empower the notion of a regional citizenship by supporting restrictions on the internal migration of fellow citizens. As a consequence, Malaysia's goal of a "national" citizenry fashioned on native Malay norms is undermined. Malaysia offers important insight into the enduring dilemma of modern plural states: how to create a common national citizenship. (Asian Perspect/GIGA)