Lukas K. Danner

University of Iceland | HI · Institute of International Affairs and Centre for Small State Studies

China's unprecedented economic growth led some scholars to conclude that it will replace the United States as the future global hegemon. However, China's intentions in exercising future global leadership are yet unknown and difficult to extrapolate from its often contradictory behaviour. A preliminary overview of China's island building in the Sout...

“Bibek Chand and Lukas K. Danner take the reader through the current state of EU-Asia relations, with a natural focus on China, encompassing all relevant topics from trade to foreign policy and social issues. The editors offer an up-to-date analysis, making this volume a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary international politics.” —Ange...

This chapter examines the EU’s interactions on the level of FTAs with Southeast Asian countries with a focus on two sets of ASEAN states: Vietnam and Singapore, where deals have been concluded and are in effect as of 2019 and 2020, respectively. It also covers Indonesia and Thailand, with which negotiations are ongoing since 2016 and on hold since...

This chapter summarizes the findings of the core chapters regarding relations between Europe and Asia and the new challenges and opportunities. It contextualizes them in the current global situation given the rise of China, the U.S.’s retrenchment, the aspirations of the EU as a global player, and the COVID-19 global pandemic. Furthermore, it provi...

This chapter takes a close look at the ongoing and concluded negotiations as well as the ratification of FTAs between the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with European nations—individually, such as with some (or all) of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member countries as well as with the EU—within...

https://easc.scholasticahq.com/article/14105-the-promise-of-arctic-diplomacy-east-asian-cooperation-in-the-arctic-council-and-beyond.pdf

The Politics of Arctic Sovereignty: Oil, Ice and Inuit Governance. Jessica M. Shadian. 2014. Abingdon-on-Thames and New York, NY: Routledge. xix + 252 p, hardcover. ISBN 978-0-415-64035-0. GBP 120. - Lukas K. Danner

This course examines the foreign policies and current foreign affairs issues in Europe/the European Union as an international actor in global politics. As a way of introduction, the history of European international relations since the Napoleonic Wars will be surveyed. The focus of the course will be on the international relations of the individual...

This course examines the foreign policies and current foreign affairs issues in South Asia. As a way of introduction, the history of the Mughal Empire as well as the establishment and eventual partition of British India will be surveyed. As this course can be taken without pre-requisites, International Relations theories will be introduced to the s...

The Arctic Council: governance within the far north. Douglas C. Nord. 2016. London and New York, NY: Routledge. xiv + 110 p, hardcover, ISBN 978-1-138-79920-2. GBP 120. - Volume 55 Issue 2 - Lukas K. Danner

This article takes a closer look at how China’s government deals with border minorities in the foreign relations with its neighboring South Asian states. To secure its periphery, China has been known to push its neighbors to support border security, including repressive measures against refugee populations which could potentially threaten China’s d...

https://easc.scholasticahq.com/article/5761-eu-china-relations

This article surveys the occupation of the formerly German-leased territory around the Jiaozhou Bay with Qingdao as its capital city by the Japanese during and after the First World War. It first describes the initial ultimatum of the Japanese to the Germans to turn over the territory, which today is the peninsular part of China's Shandong province...

This book describes the main contradictions in China’s actions on the world stage—peaceful vs. assertive—through a culturally informed framework that takes into account China’s historical memory and political culture. The author analyzes nine cases, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as examples that show both China’s commit...

This article discusses China's war aims during the First World War, as well as the intra-Chinese discussion over which side to enter the war on. It surveys the extent of the different aims, most of which were related to regaining control over foreign occupied territory, such as the German (then Japanese) territory around Jiaozhou Bay, among others....

Following the analyzed nine within-case studies of manifestations of China’s grand strategy, this concluding chapter comprehensively presents the research findings to the reader and revisits the hypotheses of the study. It ends with an examination of possible impact of the findings on International Relations theory, the policy world, and the debate...

After a short explanation of case selection and introduction, this chapter discusses three within-cases associated with the grand strategy design input of economic policy. The analyzed cases are the rare earths export restrictions, China’s free trade agreement (FTA) strategy, and its establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)....

After a short explanation of case selection and introduction, this chapter discusses three within-cases associated with the grand strategy design input of military strategy. The analyzed cases are the declaration of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, China’s space program, and its continued participation in United Na...

This chapter goes into the historical background to China’s grand strategy and political culture. The focus is, on the one hand, the tributary system with which international relations were conducted during imperial times, and, on the other hand, the ‘Century of Humiliation,’ which occurred between 1839 and 1945 and was defined by the so-called une...

https://easc.scholasticahq.com/article/5752-china-s-polar-ambitions-the-case-of-sino-icelandic-relations

This course will introduce students to a range of contemporary international problems in the field of security studies. As this course can be taken without prerequisites, it covers traditional theories in security studies, as well as the more complex areas of international security, such as human security or environmental security. These theories a...

In the past few years, especially after the 2008 global financial crisis, China has become more assertive, not just in its military posture but also in its diplomatic affairs and economic interactions. Despite this rising assertiveness, China’s grand strategy officially remains that of ‘Peaceful Development.’ In consequence, scholars have disagreed...

http://www.e-ir.info/2016/07/04/gamification-its-in-the-game/

In the past few years, China has exhibited a rising assertiveness in international relations, including trade, although its official grand strategy remains "Peaceful Development." Examples of this contradictory trajectory are China's rare earth elements export restrictions (assertive) and the One Belt, One Road initiative (peaceful). This article s...

http://www.e-ir.info/2016/05/24/how-movie-references-can-make-teaching-theories-more-accessible/

This course is designed to gives students the tools and knowledge with which to evaluate the interactions between politics and the global economy. First, students will learn how international political economy (IPE) is defined and the general newer history of global market governance. Students will learn about the different theoretical perspectives...

War and peace are two intermittent outcomes of the continuous and dynamic nature of social interactions in world politics. In turn, these social events are connected by social conflicts that may, or may not degenerate into a crisis situation and war. Thus, this course will explore the genesis of social conflicts, their possible resolution, or their...

This course is a comparative introduction to the governmental systems and current political issues in Europe, with a concentration on Western Europe. The focus will be on a selection of European states and the European Union (EU) as overarching integration project. Through a comparative approach, domestic politics and policymaking, structures and f...

International Relations of East Asia is an upper-level undergraduate course covering the foreign affairs of Northeast Asian nations. Topics explored in this course include the basics of international relations theories as they pertain to East Asia, the historical foreign affairs in the region and the foreign policies of the singular nations in the...

This course is an introduction to one of four sub-fields of political science: the comparative study of different governmental systems and units. As a field, comparative politics asks why countries possess different institutions, different degrees of economic development, or different state forms. Cases of conflicts or revolutions across countries...

This course is an introduction to the structures, policies and current political issues of the European Union (EU). The focus will be on the institutions and policies of the EU as overarching integration project in Europe and its impact on the member states. This course examines the policymaking structures and functions of EU institutions, transiti...

China has always been an important neighbour to Nepal which has otherwise historically been heavily influenced by India. The ‘rise of China’ has created a more outward-looking Middle Kingdom and so its influence in Nepal has significantly increased within the last decade. As a consequence, Nepal is experiencing growing interest from China. This art...

http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=eassc_publications

http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=0&article=1042&context=eassc_publications&type=additional

http://www.japss.org/upload/4.%20Danner.pdf