Discover the intricate tapestry of international politics and governance with this book. The book delves into the diverse nature of globally significant actors and systems across multiple regions. From Africa to Asia, Europe to the Middle East, this collection of thought-provoking case studies explores the role of regional actors in the international system. Combining theoretical innovation with empirical analysis, this volume expands the boundaries of International Relations (IR) and Area Studies (AS), showcasing their interconnections throughout history and in contemporary contexts. Through illuminating case studies drawn from the fields of "Comparative Regionalism" and "Non-Western IR Theory," the book sheds light on pressing international events. Unpacking complex questions, the contributors examine the application of IR scholarship to global events and provide fresh insights into political dynamics, conflicts, and state instability across various regions. By offering a comparative perspective on threats, political contestation, and security policies, this book challenges existing perspectives and enriches the debate. With its methodological and epistemological explorations, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of international relations and security studies, as well as researchers focusing on specific world areas. Embark on a captivating journey through the multifaceted landscape of global affairs.

This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored. The book is a rich source of knowledge on the nature of the balance that the US has pursued between global and regional interests. It will be of much interest to scholars, to practitioners, to postgraduate/PhD students of international relations theory and American foreign policy, and to all with an interest in the ability of the US to produce international order.

This book offers a theoretically informed study of recent Chinese initiatives to provide forms of regional economic governance; or as it is often termed in Chinese discourses, regional "public goods". It does so by considering the evolution of Chinese thinking on international relations and the global order, and by considering how the development of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the putative Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reflect this change in thinking - and the change in both Chinese objectives and tactics.

The US-Japan alliance has contributed significantly towards the development of the Japanese security strategy. The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance explores developments in the alliance between the US and Japan and analyzes the transformation of the Japanese security strategy from 1960 to 2013. It also describes the rise and the decline of Japanese pacifism and of the Yoshida Doctrine, the post war security strategy. Moreover, this book highlights how the end of the Cold War forced Japan to rethink its security strategy and post war pacifism. Japan has abandoned its identity of peaceful nation, turning itself into a normal national, drawing closer to the United States.
Provides readers with a theoretical framework through which they can make senseof the evolutions of the US-Japan alliance and the evolution of the Japanese security strategy throughout post war history.Provides a comprehensive overview of the shifts in the Japanese security strategies and in the American foreign and security policies in the Asia Pacific region.Makes extensive use of primary sources. Addresses main debates on security alliances and security strategies.Incorporates the latest events such as the American Pivot to Asia. "

Bringing together an international line up of contributors, this book examines South Korea's foreign policy strategies designed to cope with the challenges of the post-Cold War regional order and the emergence of a "Korean paradox". Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea's foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea's foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia. An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea's growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.

Bringing together an international line up of contributors, this book examines South Korea's foreign policy strategies designed to cope with the challenges of the post-Cold War regional order and the emergence of a "Korean paradox". Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea's foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea's foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia. An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea's growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.

A critical analysis of David C. Kang's China Rising, which is a fine example of an author making use of creative thinking skills to reach a conclusion that flies in the face of traditional thinking. The conventional view that the book opposed, known in international relations as 'realism,' was that the rise of any new global power results in global or regional instability. As such, China's development as a world economic powerhouse worried mainstream western geopolitical scholars, whose concerns were based on the realist assumption that individual countries will inevitably compete for dominance. Evaluating these arguments, and finding both their relevance and adequacy wanting, Kang instead turned traditional thinking on its head by looking at Asian history without preconceptions, and with analytical open-mindedness. Producing several novel explanations for existing evidence, Kang concludes that China's neighbors do not want to compete with it in the way that realist interpretations predict. Rather than creating instability by jockeying for position, he argues, surrounding countries are happy for China to be acknowledged as a leader, believing that its dominant position will stabilize Asia, and give the whole region more of a hand in international relations. Though critics have taken issue with Kang's conclusions, his paradigm-shifting approach is nevertheless an excellent example of developing fresh new conclusions through creative thinking.

This book offers a theoretically informed study of recent Chinese initiatives to provide forms of regional economic governance; or as it is often termed in Chinese discourses, regional "public goods". It does so by considering the evolution of Chinese thinking on international relations and the global order, and by considering how the development of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the putative Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reflect this change in thinking - and the change in both Chinese objectives and tactics.

David C. Kang’s China Rising is a fine example of an author making use of creative thinking skills to reach a conclusion that flies in the face of traditional thinking.

The conventional view that the book opposed, known in international relations as ‘realism,’ was that the rise of any new global power results in global or regional instability. As such, China’s development as a world economic powerhouse worried mainstream western geopolitical scholars, whose concerns were based on the realist assumption that individual countries will inevitably compete for dominance. Evaluating these arguments, and finding both their relevance and adequacy wanting, Kang instead turned traditional thinking on its head by looking at Asian history without preconceptions, and with analytical open-mindedness.

Producing several novel explanations for existing evidence, Kang concludes that China’s neighbors do not want to compete with it in the way that realist interpretations predict. Rather than creating instability by jockeying for position, he argues, surrounding countries are happy for China to be acknowledged as a leader, believing that its dominant position will stabilize Asia, and give the whole region more of a hand in international relations. ¶Though critics have taken issue with Kang’s conclusions, his paradigm-shifting approach is nevertheless an excellent example of developing fresh new conclusions through creative thinking.

How and why the three losers of the Second World War reconsidered their pacifism, embraced a more active military role and transformed their armed forces after the Cold War Analysis of the process of military transformation in Italy, Germany and Japan Addresses the impact of historical legacies on the pacing and direction of transformation Looks at the transformation of military doctrine and force structure over three decades Assesses the impact of different external and internal factors in military transformation While armed forces in several countries underwent deep transformations after the end of the Cold War, few if any, however, experiences more radical changes than Germany and Italy, and Japan. The book explores how the three countries modified posture and structure of their militaries over the past three decades. While the three countries all had to overcome a pacifist constitution, a widespread view in both elites and public opinion that that war was a taboo, and armed forces designed to defend and deter against large-scale threats, they all became more active security providers over the last decades. Each country followed a distinct path, though. The book reconstructs these paths, trying to show how a mix of external and domestic factors affected the pace and the extent of transformations. The book also identifies critical junctures in such process: any push to change it is argued is mediated by the need to come to terms with the cumbersone weight of the past.

Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy explores the issue of memory and lack of reconciliation in East Asia. As main East Asian nations have never achieved a common memory of their pasts, in particular, the events of the Second World War and Sino-Japanese War, this book locates the issue of memory within International Relations theory, exploring the theoretical and practical link between the construction of a country's identity and the formation and contestation of its historical memory and foreign policy.