ASIAN Journal of International Peace & Security (AJIPS)

Non-Traditional Security Paradigm and Role of Intelligence: Challenges of Transformation

2025-10-06T18:41:43+00:00

The triumphant elation of neo-liberal global order against the Marxist challenge after the cold war was soon replaced by a somber recognition that the world is still far from being a peaceful place. Post-cold war international environments had started revamping the global political order where the traditional notion of territorial security has been getting increasingly irrelevant. While conflicts in kinetic domain are persistent in some form, the broader concept of security highlights gravity of constantly evolving non-traditional threats. This emerging challenge, primarily categorized among the non-military threats, has caused a functional dilemma for the national security apparatus. Apparently, National Intelligence Community (NIC) is the most viable mechanism to anticipate, identify and forecast the non-traditional security threats. However, without undertaking necessary reforms, conventionally trained and organized NIC seems least prepared for the evolving challenges. It is, therefore, imperative that the intelligence agencies are adequately transformed and structured for the impending task.

Challenges in Implementing International Norms and Laws on Women’s Rights in Pakistan

2025-11-30T17:50:29+00:00

Even though Pakistan has ratified various international treaties and expressed commitment to international norms regarding women’s rights, translating these obligations into effective implementation remains a significant challenge. The continued societal marginalization of women results in their limited participation in social, political and economic spheres. This study explores the key barriers to women’s empowerment, including limited access to education, employment, economic resources and legal protection from violence. Based on an analysis of national and international documents as well as interviews with experts and policymakers from Lahore and Islamabad, it was found that the major obstacles, such as patriarchal norms, biased religious interpretations, limited political representation, financial dependency and outdated legal frameworks are contributing to the lack of implementation of international laws and obligations in Pakistan. It is recommended that efforts such as legal reforms and public awareness campaigns are urgently needed to address legal barriers and social resistance to ensure the effective application of international women’s rights laws. Furthermore, it is essential to strengthen and support civil society actors, including NGOs, to implement international norms and laws at societal level.

E-Governance and Citizen Empowerment in Democratic Systems: A Study of Digital Tools for Transparency and Participation

2025-11-30T18:04:31+00:00

This paper examines how e-governance and digital transformation shape democratic participation, transparency, and public representation in contemporary global governance. Although digital governance is widely promoted, its profound democratic value – particularly in developing or hybrid democratic systems – is not yet fully understood. Meanwhile, using qualitative analysis and secondary data, this research examines global and regional experiences to assess how digital tools affect engagement, accountability, and inclusion. This study presents three main findings: First, online portals and information systems make state management more observable and improve trust-based governance. Second, interactive platforms, such as e-grievance systems and consultancies, encourage wider participation, primarily among digitally literate groups. And third, political will and institutional intelligence determine whether technology actually empowers citizens or modernizes existing bureaucratic practices. Furthermore, the study outlines vital policy implications: governments should accompany digital reforms with investments in digital literacy and equitable access, and they should incorporate participatory mechanisms into e-governance platforms, rather than treating them as optional add-ons. Overall, this study argues that technology alone does not deepen democracy; meaningful impact occurs when digital tools support transparent, inclusive, and citizen-centered governance practices.

Digital Sovereignty and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): Emerging Geopolitics of Cyberspace

2025-11-30T18:13:39+00:00

The rapid digitalization of global politics has elevated digital sovereignty—the ability of state to govern and safeguard their data, networks and digital infrastructures into a central concern of contemporary international relations. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has surfaced as an influential yet unexplored platform where divergent visions of cyberspace governance are contested. This study aims at exploring the engagements of SCO with digital sovereignty by analyzing the policy documents, declarations of SCO summit, declarations, and national cyber strategies through a qualitative discourse analysis. The research paper explores how digital governance norms of the west are being challenged? It argues that the SCO functions less as cohesive digital bloc and more as discursive and diplomatic arena, where narratives of security, autonomy, and resistance to western dominance are negotiated. By applying critical geopolitics theoretical framework, the paper highlights how digital sovereignty debates within the SCO reflects broader struggle over spatial imaginaries of cyberspace and contribute to the emerging multipolar order in digital governance. The findings reveal that while SCO members converge rhetorically in opposing western digital governance model, their narratives diverge in substance. It highlights SCO as a discursive arena rather than a unified policy making bloc.

Defining Environmental Crime in International Law: Conceptual Ambiguities, Enforcement Gaps and Criminological Recognition

2025-11-30T18:22:54+00:00

Green crimes, a contemporary term for environmental crimes within green criminology, pose a significant threat to the planet. Numerous anthropogenic activities, illegal exploitation of natural resources, cases of corporate negligence and a range of wrongful and destructive acts against the nature remain unrecognized as crimes under international law. This gap primarily exists due to the lack of an adequate legal response from the international community to establish an internationally enforceable definition of environmental crimes. Consequently, crimes against the environment are often neglected and frequently escape prosecution owing to sovereignty concerns and inconsistent priorities. This article argues that the lack of a universal definition of environmental crime, legal ambiguities and enforcement deficiencies create critical enforcement gaps and institutional lacunae in the identification and prosecution of numerous harmful activities against the environment in international law. Through a doctrinal legal research design and the application of a green criminology framework, this article contends that the current international legal framework is insufficient. Therefore, to bridge the gap between environmental harm and accountability under international law, an interdisciplinary collaboration and development of coherent legal standards is crucial.