Maria-Gabriela Manea

Bio: Maria-Gabriela Manea is an academic researcher from University of Freiburg. The author has contributed to research in topics: Southeast asian & Politics. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 10 publications receiving 110 citations.

Human rights and the interregional dialogue between Asia and Europe: ASEAN–EU relations and ASEM

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, human rights have been a contentious issue for relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU), especially in the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM). It is an issue that has constantly led to tensions in interregional cooperation. However, the ASEAN–EU dialogue on human rights has, in fact, had a significant impact on regional dynamics by stimulating the process of regional identity formation, especially in Southeast Asia. The core mechanism through which this development takes place is that of interaction, the process in which the two regional groupings engage while negotiating human rights policy. It can be argued, therefore, that interregional and intraregional human rights interactions are mutually dependent. ASEAN's rather confrontational mode of interaction with the European Union in relation to human rights has served as a catalyst for the dynamic growth of a collective definition of self in ASEAN. It has led to an ‘essentiali...

How and Why Interaction Matters ASEAN's Regional Identity and Human Rights

Abstract: The aftermath of the Cold War has brought a shift in the West's position on the acceptance and promotion of international human rights standards in developing countries. In this context, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries challenge the West's position based on two contradictory principles — comprehensibility and cultural embedment of human rights. In this article, I argue that interactions with regard to human rights involving state and non-state actors in ASEAN have become part of the process of regional identity formation. How ASEAN has responded to external pressures in terms of compliance with international human rights norms, and how it has developed its own normative and procedural approach to human rights at the regional level, are inherent in the dynamics of `Self' definition. A mixed pattern of `rhetorical' and `communicative action' explains how interaction has led to different phases — differentiation, affirmation, contestation and re-orientation — in the dynami...

The Politics of Military Reform : experiences from Indonesia and Nigeria

Abstract: Part I: Introduction.- Part II: Military Reform in Indonesia and Nigeria.- Part III: Legislatures and Non-State Actors in Military Reform.- Part IV: Rogue Forces and Military Reform.- Part V: Conclusion.

The diffusion of parliamentary oversight: investigating the democratization of the armed forces in Indonesia and Nigeria

Abstract: Parliamentary control of the armed forces is a core norm of the liberal security sector reform paradigm. Western governments and transnational actors have spread this norm to democratizing states t...

Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil–Military Relations

Abstract: Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil–Military Relations. By Peter D. Feaver. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. 400p. 19.95 paper.Most scholars work within established paradigms. Few have the temerity to challenge them—and fewer still succeed in causing fundamental reconsideration. Peter Feaver has accomplished the latter task. He has taken on the dominant long-standing theoretical framework for American civil–military relations and, in the process, provided a more accurate view of them in the early twenty-first century.

When Soldiers Rebel: Ethnic Armies and Political Instability in Africa

Abstract: Military coups are a constant threat in Africa and many former military leaders are now in control of 'civilian states', yet the military remains understudied, especially over the last decade. Drawing on extensive archival research, cross-national data, and four in-depth comparative case studies, When Soldiers Rebel examines the causes of military coups in post-independence Africa and looks at the relationship between ethnic armies and political instability in the region. Kristen A. Harkness argues that the processes of creating and dismantling ethnically exclusionary state institutions engenders organized and violent political resistance. Focusing on rebellions to protect rather than change the status quo, Harkness sheds light on a mechanism of ethnic violence that helps us understand both the motivations and timing of rebellion, and the rarity of group rebellion in the face of persistent political and economic inequalities along ethnic lines.

Balancers, multilateral utilities or regional identity builders? international relations and the study of interregionalism

Abstract: This article presents an overview on the state of the art of research on interregional relations. It clarifies underlying concepts and focuses on the theory-guided literature exploring the functions of interregional forums for the emerging global governance architecture. Empirical evidence provided by many of the reviewed studies suggests that interregional relations are part of complex institutional balancing games played by regions which curtail their potential as multilateral utilities. Empirical studies examining norm diffusion between regions are still in their infancy. This leaves considerable space for innovative research going beyond the notion of the EU as a ‘normative power’ trying to persuade other regions to adopt its model of regional integration.