International Business and Security

The significance of politics has become a popular topic in the IB literature. Buckley, Doh, and Benischke (2017, 1045) argue that "IB can play a more constructive and vital role by tackling expansive topics at the business-societal interface." Chase-Dunn, Kawano, and Brewer (2000), Jones (2007), O'Rourke and Williamson (2014), and Witt (2019) from the IB discipline agree that politics play a critical role for firms and individuals to benefit from technology, transportation, and communication. There are also attempts to explain the IB phenomenon using IS theories such as realism and liberalism. Witt argues that "The centrality of politics stems from its role as a key driver of (de-)globalization" and suggests implications for the IB research (Witt 2019, 1054). IB and IS are disciplines that actively interact with each other, rather than functioning as a cause or effect on either side. This chapter discusses how an interdisciplinary study will be built for the research puzzle and the usefulness of a geostrategic perspective with model examples of cross-level interactions among players in IB and IS.

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International Business and Security Focus - Emerging Economies in the Indo-Pacific

The concept of "Indo-Pacific" has important implications for the International Business and Security research domains particularly for emerging markets in the region. The chapter discusses the birth and development of the Indo-Pacific concept in the context of ever-increasing business-security interaction. By the United States, its military allies, and partners since 2017, the Indo-Pacific concept was incepted as a security network that reinstates and strengthens the existing security order in the Asia-Pacific region (Wilkins and Kim 2020). This chapter argues that the Indo-Pacific is not entirely a new regional and geographic concept that replaces the Asia-Pacific region, nor can it be interpreted merely as a national security slogan. We view that the Indo-Pacific concept is a geostrategic concept and terminology commonly used by the US, its allies, and partners. Meanwhile, the specific substance and purpose are different from country to country.

The chapter defines the Indo-Pacific as a network that connects countries seeking a common security order. The so-called Quadrilateral Security Dialogue partners - the US, Australia, Japan, and India - are the leading countries in the US-led Indo-Pacific order. More US allies and security partners agree to align the US Indo-Pacific concept with their security policy, and the Indo-Pacific as the US-led security network is expanding. The Indo-Pacific concept has a critical influence on the foreign and security policy of government actors - the central unit of analysis of IS discipline. National governments are the key policymakers of the host country and home country in the IB studies. Therefore, the Indo-Pacific security network has become an important variable in the globalization strategy of MNEs. The chapter suggests the implications of the birth and development of the Indo-Pacific concept for both IS and IB.

Chapter:International Business and Security Nexus - China



The chapter describes the International Business and Security Nexus (IBSN) by examining two of the largest and high growth emerging markets - China and India. At first in this chapter, we focus on China. The chapter, first, discusses the geographic reality upon which the IB and IS players are based. Second, it explains the interactions between the IB players, MNEs, home country, and host country, and IS players, government actors, from the perspective of geostrategy. Third, the interaction among regional and international organizations, sub-national groups, and individuals, which are non-state actors of IB and IS, is explained through a lens of geostrategy. The chapter argues that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) led the overall diplomacy, security policy, and economic policy in China since 2013 and represent the cross-level nexus of IB and IS. The Xi Jinping administration equates the development of inland Central Asia and maritime Southeast Asia with the development of China as a nation, the development of Chinese central and regional governments, state-owned enterprises, and private enterprises, i.e., multi-level IB players. The chapter analyzes Chinese geographic reality's influence on Chinese IB and IS players and their policies through a cross-level analysis.

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International Business and Security Nexus - IndiaThe chapter describes the International Business and Security Nexus (IBSN) through the second emerging market as a research context - India. First, the chapter discusses the geographic reality upon which the Indian IB and IS players are based. Second, it explains the interaction among Indian IB players - MNEs, home country, and host country -, and IS player, the Indian government, from a geostrategic perspective. Third, the interaction between the regional and international organization, sub-national groups, and individuals, which are non-state actors of IB and IS, is explained through the lens of geostrategy. In 2007, India joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) in which the US, Japan and Australia were participating. The chapter explains the background of India's endorsement of the security order led by the US in 2007 by joining the QSD and India's official acceptance of the US-led Indo-Pacific concept since 2017 from a geostrategic perspective. We study how India implements the IBSN as part of India's Indo-Pacific vision, which is similar but different from the US-led Indo-Pacific concept. The chapter argues that India's Indo-Pacific vision is an example of a cross-level nexus of IB and IS that is in line with India's Look East policy (later developed into Act East policy) and Good Neighborliness policy that India pursued since its liberalization of the economy in 1992.

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International Business and Security - Future in the Indo-Pacific

The chapter concludes the book and reviews the included arguments on actors at various levels of the IB and IS studies and provide a snapshot on how they interact and influence each other. Subsequently, we discuss the future implications of rapidly evolving issues. In this monograph, the strategies of IB actors and IS actors are explained from the perspective of geostrategy. Traditionally, geostrategy was a concept primarily used to understand the diplomatic and security policies at the national government level. The monograph argues that the geostrategy perspective is useful in explaining the cross-level interaction among IB and IS players. Building on the monograph's findings, conclusions suggest that interdisciplinary studies between IB and IS reduce uncertainty within each discipline.