Asia Europe Journal - Call for Special Issue Papers on ‘What Happens in Europe Matters in the Indo-Pacific: The Global Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine War’
Guest Editors:
Shaohua Yan, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China
email: yanshaohua@fudan.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)
website (this opens in a new tab)
Biao Zhang, School of Political Science and Public Administration, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, PR China
email: biaozhang@cupl.edu.cn (this opens in a new tab)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4384-2083 (this opens in a new tab)
Rationale: Since February 2022, Russia’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine has shattered European peace. The Russian threat of nuclear attack brings the risk of nuclear war to Europe, and its use of the Wagner Group makes Ukraine vulnerable to hybrid warfare. European sanctions against Russia have almost cut off its ties with the West. Ukraine has been struggling to fight against Russia with the support of American and European military equipment.
While the battleground is in Europe, the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war are felt across the globe. In this special issue, we invite contributors to examine the global impacts of the war, with a special focus on the Indo-Pacific.
First, how does the conflict affect the countries within the Indo-Pacific? For instance, has Russia intensified its ties with India, Vietnam, and North Korea, after the outbreak of the war and imposition of sanctions? How does Russia-China strategic partnership evolve in the aftermath of the conflict (e.g. Chang-Liao 2023)? Will the EU put more press on China to withdraw its support (e.g. Hennessy 2023)? Why the EU is actively seeking ASEAN member states’ condemnation of Russia? How do the countries within the Indo-Pacific view the conflict?
Second, how do politicians, newspapers and scholars evaluate the conflict in different ways? For instance, some use analogy to understand the impacts. Liz Truss, the former British Foreign Secretary, repeatedly called for learning the Ukrainian ‘lessons’ and applying them to Taiwan and building a ‘Global NATO’ to ‘defend Taiwan’. A commentary from the European Council on Foreign Relations highlighted the ‘undeniable parallels’ between Ukraine and Taiwan. Others use dependence to assess the impacts. Stoltenberg, the incumbent NATO secretary, stressed that ‘what happens in Europe has a consequence for East Asia, and what happens in East Asia matters to Europe’. He added that ‘the idea China doesn’t matter for NATO doesn’t work’. Meanwhile, Chinese scholars have warned against applying to Taiwan the same ‘cold war’ logic that has been reinforced by the Russia-Ukraine war in Europe (Zhang 2023).
Third, how Europe and Asia interact in the field of security? The Russian-Ukraine war has not only shocked the European security order, but also led to a fundamental shift of understanding on security and a significant transformation of security strategies in Europe and Asia. In an era of growing geopolitical challenges, the security element of Asia-Europe relations has gained increasing salience.
Last but not least, in which sector do the impacts of the conflict on the region feel most? Economically, the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushes up the prices of energy and food. In consequence, the energy and food prices in the Indo-Pacific have gone up in the region. Diplomatically, countries in the region have been lobbied by European countries to stand against Russia.
We welcome research articles addressing these questions from both Eastern and Western perspectives.
Timeline:
- 1 January 2025: Sent to the Guest Editors for coherence check and pre-submission feedback
- 1 February 2025: Revision and submission to AEJ Manuscript Submission System
- 1 April 2025: First round of peer review
- 1 June 2025: Second round of peer review
- 1 September 2025: Publication online
Key Points:
Please send your paper to both guest editors by 1st January 2025. Submission guidelines can be found at https://link.springer.com/journal/10308/submission-guidelines (this opens in a new tab). The guest editors will make their decisions ASAP. Please be advised that being invited to submit a paper to a special issue is NOT a guarantee of its publication. For papers that are not invited to be included in the special issue, they will be considered as book chapters published in an edited volume under the same title by Springer/Palgrave Macmillan.