Rethinking Security In East Asia

Is East Asia heading towards war? This text makes a case for a new theoretical approach (called 'analytical eclecticism' by the authors) to the study of Asian security.

Since the unexpected end of the Cold War, standard arguments about power politics can no longer be adopted uncritically. This has led to a renewed interest in Japan’s unusually peaceful security policy. Japan’s championing of "comprehensive security" is central to this collection. Peter J. Katzenstein’s essays explore this concept which not only encompasses traditional military concerns but also domestic aspects of security. The book's focus on counter-terrorism and national security highlights a policy approach which, over decades, Japan has developed with political patience and diplomatic finesse. These essays advocate an eclectic approach that helps in recognizing new questions and that seek to combine elements from different analytical perspectives in the exploration of novel lines of argument. Additionally, the book features an entirely new, substantial introduction that explores and elaborates the themes of the collection while bringing it up to date. This collection will be of significant interest to students and scholars of Japanese politics, security studies and international relations.

In this book, leading experts from seven countries-- Japan, Russia, China, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia-- assess security concerns over East Asian energy imports, particularly from the Middle East.

During the past half century, U.S. policy in East Asia was guided by a simple dictum: avoid the domination of East Asia by any power other than the United States. Increasingly, however, this policy approach seems questionable in a globalizing world, a massively changed East Asia, and a much deeper U.S. economic involvement in the region. Even as East Asian leaders often tell Americans they want a continued U.S. presence for security purposes, they also fear an American effort to "contain" China that will put them between a rising regional power and the global superpower, creating dangerous tensions that ultimately would threaten the region's golden goose —China's powerful economic growth engine. Others, like some Japanese, would welcome a conclusion by the United States that a powerful China ultimately threatens American interests.The Post-American Century in East Asia addresses major policy problems of East Asia —from the management of our relations with China to the North Korean nuclear problem to the growth of East Asian regionalism. The book answers how, in light of East Asia's growing power and influence, the United States can retain influence commensurate with its interests. The transformation of the region requires us to ask whether some longstanding perspectives are still relevant, as well as what changes are needed in American policy.

A Rising China and Security in East Asia provides a systematic and in-depth analysis of the security discourse of Chinese elites on the major powers in East Asia, namely the US, Japan and Russia, and how China perceives their global security strategy.

How can the United States craft a sustainable national security strategy in a world of shifting threats, sharp resource constraints, and a changing balance of power? This volume brings together research on this question from political science, history, and political economy, aiming to inform both future scholarship and strategic decision-making.

David C. Kang tells an often overlooked story about East Asia's 'comprehensive security', arguing that American policy towards Asia should be based on economic and diplomatic initiatives rather than military strength.

The rise of China is changing the strategic landscape globally and regionally. How states respond to potential threats posed by this new power arrangement will be crucial to international relations for the coming decades. This book builds on existing realist and rationalist concepts of balancing, bandwagoning, commitment problems, and asymmetric information to craft explanations about how states respond when faced with potential threats. Specifically, the book explores the role different types of uncertainty play in potential balancing situations. Particular focus is given to the nature of the rising state’s actions, the balance of forces, and the value of delay. These concepts are analysed and illustrated through a series of case studies on Europe in the 1930s as well as the present-day Southeast Asia, looking at great powers such as Britain and France, but also a wide range of smaller powers including Poland, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

This book takes up a wide variety of human security challenges beyond the dimension of human conflict, and looks at both natural and human disasters that the East Asian region faces or is attempting to resolve. While discussing various human security issues, the case studies offer practical lessons to address serious human security challenges in the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three and beyond. Against the backdrop of multifaceted globalization and parochial reactions thereto, this book is a powerful contribution to universal human security.