Jayasuriya, KanishkaDoyle, Timothy JohnChacko, PriyaZimmerman, Erin Catherine2018-09-142018-09-142013http://hdl.handle.net/2440/114475Non-traditional security issues in Asia have highlighted the interconnected and multi-scalar nature of security in the 21st Century; they have also driven an increasing demand for new and assertive forms of regional security governance. Regional institutions, such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the ASEAN Regional Forum, have struggled to effectively address non-traditional security issues, and governing authority for these issues has started to shift from state controlled forums to think tank organised and run dialogues. These dialogues have provided innovative forms of ‘political space,’ where security actors can address non-traditional security threats that are too politically sensitive for existing governance structures. Two kinds of think tank governing paces have emerged. The first category consists of governmentally affiliated think tanks like Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific and ASEAN – Institutes of Strategic and International Studies. There networks provide political space on behalf of established formal governing institutions and adhere to the dominant diplomatic norms of the ASEAN-Way. The second category operates independently of regional organisations and often emerges in the absence of formal governing alternatives. This category operates outside of state control and simultaneously contributes innovative and challenging ideas to existing governing processes, while at the same time undermining their legitimacy as authoritative provides of governance. Both categories offer important location for the identification, articulation, and dissemination of non-traditional security policy in the region. However, the existence of think tanks spaces that operate as informal governing structures raise important questions regarding the evolving role of think tanks as governing actors and the effectiveness of existing modes of security governance in Asia.think tankspolicy networksAsian securitynon-traditional securityTheses10.25909/5b9afbe5b8a5f