The four countries represented in this volume are East Asian middle powers with strategic constraints upon their traditional security policymaking. These middle powers have pursued diplomatic activities raising their international profile or footprint, and advancing their national interest, through normative foreign policy and humanitarian channels, including peacebuilding, development, and human security. In each case, therefore, there is a happy coincidence of the national interest of the middle power expressed though certain diplomatic "niches," and benefit to regional partners in peace and development. The Niche Diplomacy of Asian Middle Powers seeks to uncover the unique contributions of Asian middle powers to the furtherance of humanitarian and human-related policymaking, including the promotion of peace, development and democracy long associated with middle-powerism, with particular emphasis on their involvement in the Southeast Asian subregion. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have made Southeast Asia a focus for their attempts to get more "bang for their foreign policy buck" (or Yen or Won) and have adopted similar normatively justified variations on the theme of "new Southern policies." Meanwhile, Thailand looks to play a variety of middle power roles within a region where it is a major actor.

This book examines the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute between Japan and China and the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute between Japan and Korea, in order to offer new perspectives on the possible approaches towards amelioration and resolution of these conflicts. Japan's Island Troubles with China and Korea addresses the prospects of and challenges to achieving resolutions in the island disputes, rather than focusing solely on the origins and the political roles they play in the domestic politics of the three nations. Furthermore, in taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book transcends existing studies, which focus on the domestic contexts of the disputes, and therefore avoids the pitfalls of nationalistic narratives. Instead, this book fills a theoretical and methodological lacuna in the academic literature, exploring how the islands could become a point of co-operation, rather than contention. Providing a fresh examination of Japan's relations with its two closest neighbours, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars of Asian politics and international relations, security studies, and Asia-Pacific studies more generally.

This book examines the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute between Japan and China and the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute between Japan and Korea, in order to offer new perspectives on the possible approaches towards amelioration and resolution of these conflicts. Japan's Island Troubles with China and Korea addresses the prospects of and challenges to achieving resolutions in the island disputes, rather than focusing solely on the origins and the political roles they play in the domestic politics of the three nations. Furthermore, in taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book transcends existing studies, which focus on the domestic contexts of the disputes, and therefore avoids the pitfalls of nationalistic narratives. Instead, this book fills a theoretical and methodological lacuna in the academic literature, exploring how the islands could become a point of co-operation, rather than contention. Providing a fresh examination of Japan's relations with its two closest neighbours, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars of Asian politics and international relations, security studies, and Asia-Pacific studies more generally.