Jacob Stokes

Bio: Jacob Stokes is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topic(s): China & Orient. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publication(s) receiving 9 citation(s).

“A community of shared destiny” : how China is reshaping human rights in Southeast Asia

Abstract: As China re-emerges on the world stage as a great power, fuelled by intertwined ethno-nationalism and a sense of manifest destiny with roots on its identity as a civilisational state, it is increasingly seeking to reshape the international liberal order that was put in place by the USled West after the Second World War. Its emergence as a normative power in the field of human rights, prioritising national sovereignty and economic development over notions of universalism and civil and political rights has been noticed, and a growing number of political leaders have started to see the unique brand of Chinese authoritarianism and ‘human rights with Chinese characteristics’ as models to emulate. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in Southeast Asia, a region with deep historical and economic ties with China, where no one has forgotten the time when Beijing was the centre of the world.

Sino-Russian rapprochement and Greater Eurasia: From geopolitical pole to international society?

Abstract: Can international anarchy be stabilized, if not globally, then at least regionally? Those scholars who give a positive answer usually refer to the North Atlantic community which can be categorized

Brazilian engagement to Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017: less politics, more trade and investments

Abstract: The paper aims to understand Brazilian position in relation to Asia and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), based on a review of the bibliography and journalistic articles on Brazil-Asia subject and an observance of official data of the Brazilian economy. Since Dilma Rousseff until Michel Temer’s government, Brazil has facing a troubled political and economic scenario, which negatively impacts on its diplomacy. Although Brazil reaffirmed its commitment with global strategic partnership with China in terms of trade flows, the lack of Brazilian participation on issues of global political nature directly impacts on the way in which Brasilia moved its attention to the BRI and to the Asian affairs. The ambitious proportions and objectives of the BRI summed to the rise of a nationalist economic policy of the United States indicate a deepening of several movements that have been changing the international balance of power, which can offer opportunities for Brazil, by means of a cohesive long-term policy for Asia and in a multifaceted way beyond trade.

US Security Strategy of Asian Rebalance: India’s Role and Concerns

Abstract: China’s aggressive rise and strained relations with its Asia-Pacific neighbours—a region with immense economic and strategic potential—have forced the US to forge a strategy of Asian rebalance. Besides making China suspicious, this strategy has aroused the possibility of a new cold war. In contrast, though India’s relations with China have improved considerably since the 1962 War, the unresolved border issue and the threatening Chinese attitude do not allow India to trust China. To deal with the Chinese threat, India has devised a Look East, Act East engagement policy as well as developed close economic and strategic relations with the US and its Asia-Pacific allies. Although the concern of strategic autonomy deters India from being an active partner of US strategy, China’s all-weather friendship with Pakistan and encirclement through infrastructure in its neighbourhood as well as Xi Jinping’s Chinese dream have left limited options for India. Therefore, this article aims to analyse the implicatio...