Title: Balancing matters?re-visiting security-development nexus and its operation on ‘secure and prosperous’ national goals Thailand 2014-2024
Author: Miss Thiraphon Singlor
Year: 2023
Keywords: Security-Development Nexus, National Development, National Policies, National Power, Hard Power, Military Roles in Development, Thailand
Theme: Post Development
Advisor(s): Balazs Szanto
The full thesis available here.
Abstract: The main objective of this thesis is to assess the significance of the security-development nexus for Thailand and explore the necessity of achieving balance within it. Through qualitative document analysis, the study addresses two research questions—the operations and implications of the nexus for the country’s security and prosperity. It assesses the theory of ‘balance’ across Thailand’s national-level policies, encompassing the 20-Year National Strategy and its overarching national goals of Security, Prosperity, and Sustainability, as well as the National Economic and Social Development Policy and Plan, National Security Policy and Plan, and Defense Policy. Findings reveal that Thailand’s security and development policies continue to evolve from Cold War influences, adapting to modernization trends, including integration into the global economy while navigating external pressures. Thailand maintains flexibility and international stability through its longstanding balance of power strategy, while also demonstrating ambition in assuming leadership roles in development. These policies acknowledge security and development as both instruments and objectives. However, analysis based on international indexes and national progress reports reveals that Thailand’s current trajectory exhibits both acceptable and unacceptable imbalances, failing to achieve high levels of either goal. This finding emphasizes the pivotal importance of maintaining a balanced strategy. The balanced nexus could be acknowledged as a form of national power, specifically hard power, to further enhance Thailand’s balance of power. This thesis underscores the nexus’s significance for aspiring middle-power countries seeking socio-economic development and international influence. It recommends that Thailand address the unacceptable imbalance by refining its ‘military modernity’ and the military roles in development, essential for leveraging military capabilities in national development effectively