My chapter, “Human Dignity and Catholicism in the Philippines”, was just published in the edited volume Human Dignity in Asia: Dialogue Between Law and Culture, by Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu (Cambridge University Press). It is also available in electronic format through Cambridge Core.

For a limited time, you can purchase the book at a discount from Cambridge University Press using the coupon code “HSU2022” (without the quotation marks).

The concept of human dignity differs from that of human rights in important ways. The notion of human dignity precedes that of human rights and recalls the famous observation of Jacques Maritain, one of the key drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that “we agree on these rights, providing we are not asked why. With the ‘why,’ the dispute begins.” The concept of human dignity implies an answer to the “why” of human rights, but that answer varies across different cultures.

How is human dignity understood in Asian societies? The chapters in this volume systematically survey Asian approaches to human dignity through philosophical, legal, religious, and socio-political analyses. Chapters cover India, Japan, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

My own contribution examines the Catholic Church’s understanding of human dignity and how the Catholic hierarchy has sought to apply it in the Philippines. I focus on several issue areas, including capital punishment, contraception, poverty, and electoral fraud. Catholic doctrine teaches that all people possess intrinsic dignity because they have been created in the image of God (the imago Dei), thereby imposing certain moral principles regarding the treatment of oneself and others, including solidarity, the preferential option for the poor, and the sanctity of human life. The Church’s application of these teachings in the Philippines has taken on distinct local characteristics shaped by high levels of societal poverty, economic inequality, and corruption, as well as the Church’s historically strong political influence. The Catholic bishops have harnessed the concept of human dignity to point out dehumanizing practices in Philippine society and call for greater respect for the sanctity of human life. In recent decades, though, the Church’s moral authority in the Philippines has been severely challenged by changing political dynamics, revealing the limits of its ability to promote Catholic teachings on human dignity.

I was quoted in the South China Morning Post in an article about ASEAN envoy Prak Sokhonn’s visit to Myanmar.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3171581/asean-envoy-wraps-first-myanmar-visit-five-point-consensus

Jonathan Chow, an assistant political science professor at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, said acknowledging the atrocities committed against the Rohingya was essential to establishing an authoritative historical record, and in dealing with misinformation, denial, and efforts to erase the identity of the Rohingya people.

Chow said an important step towards changing the junta’s calculations would be to impose a worldwide embargo on the sale or transfer of arms to the country’s military. He cited the report released last month by Thomas Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar, which noted that China, Russia and Serbia had all supplied categories of weapons to the junta since the coup. These include fighter jets, armoured vehicles, rockets and artillery that have been used to attack civilians.

In June last year, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for member states to “prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”, but it is non-binding.

“But such an embargo has not been forthcoming due to the likelihood of vetoes by China and Russia,” Chow said, referring to the two permanent members of the UN Security Council who share close ties with Myanmar.

Leif-Eric Easley and I have published a new article in this week’s PacNet Commentary, produced by Pacific Forum. In this analysis, we examine the factors that led to the February 1 arrest of Myanmar’s civilian government by the military. We also discuss what this critical moment will mean for Myanmar’s democratization, human rights, and relations with China going forward.

Leif-Eric Easley and I recently published an article in East Asia Forum discussing the Myanmar and North Korea’s different responses to Chinese influence. The article is based on research that we published in an article for Contemporary Security Policy.

Leif-Eric Easley and I recently published an article in Contemporary Security Policy, titled “Renegotiating Pariah State Partnerships: Why Myanmar and North Korea Respond Differently to Chinese Influence.”

Pariah status for violating international norms over decades increased Myanmar
and North Korea’s dependence on China. Myanmar’s post-2010 reforms sought
to reduce international sanctions and diversify diplomatic relations. North
Korea pursued a diplomatic offensive after the 2018 Winter Olympics, but
only after declaring itself a nuclear state. Why, despite both states’ politically
unsustainable dependence on China, did Myanmar and North Korea pursue
different strategies for renegotiating reliance? Unlike the Kim regime,
Myanmar’s junta could step back from power while protecting its interests.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was a credible signaler of reforms,
providing Western governments political cover to reduce sanctions. Myanmar
used liberalizing reforms to address internal threats, whereas North Korea
utilizes external threats for regime legitimacy. The theoretical underpinnings
and empirical trajectories of these distinctions–as well as Myanmar’s
backsliding on human rights–explain why reducing reliance on China may
prove more difficult than shedding pariah status.

Leif-Eric Easley and I have a new article published in the July issue of The Asan Forum. In “Myanmar’s Democratic Backsliding in the Struggle for National Identity and Independence”, we assess Myanmar’s democratization and why the consolidation of democracy has stalled. The key, we argue, lies in Myanmar’s unfinished nation-building and a struggle over whether to define the polity in civic terms or in ethnic terms.

Be sure to check out the other contributions to the Special Forum on Democratization, National Identity, and Foreign Policy in Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar, with essays by Sophie Lemiere, Ralf Emmers, and Mendee Jargalsaikhan, along with an introduction by Gil Rozman. All articles are freely available on the Asan Forum website.