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Mandalas Of Security, Rosita Dellios Feb 2009

Mandalas Of Security, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

In employing the constructional metaphor of 'architectures' for the constructive purpose of security enhancement in the eastern Asian region, it is but a small step to 'indigenise' the process by slipping into the mentality of mandala-building. In doing so, it is to be hoped that Asian security 'architectures' will prove more acceptable and accessible to participants - and thus efficacious in their purpose. The mandala adds nothing new to the experience of Asian communities but redirects effort towards existing cultural orientations. In effect, it is a conceptual device for refining Western technostructures in ways more meaningful to the needs and …


"How May The World Be At Peace?": Idealism As Realism In Chinese Strategic Culture, Rosita Dellios Feb 2009

"How May The World Be At Peace?": Idealism As Realism In Chinese Strategic Culture, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

There is a famous orientalism which declares: "Let the Chinese dragon sleep for when she awakes she will astonish the world." In this decade of China's self-strengthening, Western Realists seem to be seeing dragons again. Not so their geoeconomic counterparts. They see only markets. Neither the threat nor opportunity analysts, however, quite see China in the "round"; a mandala of security in which certain principles have long held sway over matters of survival and, indeed, benefit. An appreciation of China's cultural-philosophical tradition provides a corrective to these blinkered visions. More than that, it suggests a way forward in a world …


Mandala: From Sacred Origins To Sovereign Affairs In Traditional Southeast Asia, Rosita Dellios Feb 2009

Mandala: From Sacred Origins To Sovereign Affairs In Traditional Southeast Asia, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

This paper examines 'mandala' as a tradition of knowledge in Southeast Asia. It marries two concepts of mandala: (1) a Hindu-Buddhist religious diagram; with (2) a doctrine of traditional Southeast Asian 'international relations', derived from ancient Indian political discourse. It also highlights the value of Chinese thought as the 'yin' to ancient India's 'yang', in the construction of a Southeast Asian mandalic political culture. In its investigations, this paper draws on to the writings of key historians of this period, particularly O. W. Wolters, as well as the influential Indian text on governance, Kautilya's Arthasastra.