Il precario equilibrio regionale tra nazionalismo, egemonismo e nuove strategie geopolitiche in Asia Sudorientale. L’evoluzione del rapporto tra Cina e ASEAN nel Mar Cinese Meridionale

This study aims to outline the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) regarding the resolution of the dispute in the South China Sea and we aim to clarify the reasons that prevented ASEAN to handle the dispute in a more effective way. We also want to analyze the reasons behind China’s foreign policy shift in the 1990’s, starting from inception of its multilateral relationship with ASEAN. The research considers especially the whole Southeast Asian region. Such geographic boundaries will essentially expand for a strategic purpose, in order to include some extra-regional actors involved in the question, such as People's Republic of China, the United States and Japan. This aspect underlines the dual dimension of the research, which starts from a regional standpoint and then undertakes a global reach. We decided to consider the period from 1992, year of the ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea, to 2007, year of the ASEAN Charter. The methodology chosen for this work is framed in a humanistic and multidisciplinary (historical - economical - sociological) approach, specific of the area-studies, in which the linguistic and cultural knowledge is an essential element for the success of the research and the achievement of our purpose. Considering the goals that we set for the research, qualitative method looks the most appropriate choice and it allows us to focus on a few, well-defined cases, of which it is possible to detect the most meticulous details. A significant part of our data consists of primary sources such as official documents of the associations, official statements from governments, programmatic documents, declarations and memorandum of understanding, but also provoked data such as structured interviews, participation in conferences and think-tanks. The secondary sources consists of monograph and collective books, scientific journals and newspaper articles, and were collected in Cagliari, Hamburg and Tokyo.