Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2182. Russian perceptions and policies in a multipolar East Asia under Yeltsin and Putin
- Author:
- Paradorn Rangsimaporn
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- While the desire to counterbalance US unilateralism informed Russian perceptions and advocacy of multipolarity globally, the complex and fluid balance of power in a multipolar East Asia complicates Russian perceptions and policies of multipolarity regionally and counterbalancing US power became not the sole goal. Russia's aim in East Asia was to reassert its influence while ensuring a stable regional environment in order for Russia to restore itself as a great power. However, the relatively stabilizing US regional role, the rise of neighboring China, the prospects of Japanese remilitarization and strengthened US–Japanese military alliance, and the lack of a Northeast Asian security structure are factors that pose both challenges and opportunities for Russian policymakers in pursuing Russian interests and great-power aims. Such factors have served to make Russian perceptions and policy in East Asia somewhat contradictory. While Russia's great-power aspiration was relatively clear, the policies to achieve this remained vague and inconclusive.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, China, and Asia
2183. Historical beliefs and the perception of threat in Northeast Asia: colonialism, the tributary system, and China–Japan–Korea relations in the twenty-first century
- Author:
- Peter Hays Gries, Qingmin Zhang, Yasuki Masui, and Yong Wook Lee
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- Historical controversies continue to plague northeast Asian politicstoday, with Chinese and Koreans protesting Japanese history textbooksand Japanese politicians\' visits to Yasukuni Shrine, and Koreans protestingChinese claims that the ancient Kingdom of Goguryo was Chinese,not Korean. Yet, there is little empirical research exploring what, if any,impact historical beliefs have on threat perception and foreign policypreferences in northeast Asia today. On the basis of surveys of Chinese,Japanese, and South Korean university students, this paper explores the relationships among beliefs about the past, perceived threat in thepresent, and foreign policy preferences for the future. Results and theirimplications for northeast Asian security are discussed.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Korea
2184. Ocean frontier expansion and the Kalayaan Islands Group claim: Philippines\' postwar pragmatism in the South China Sea
- Author:
- Ulises Granados
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- In 1946, the Philippines raised claims in the South China Sea over an area already known as Spratly Islands. This claim advanced through peculiar stages, starting when Thomas Cloma allegedly discovered islands in 1946, later named as Freedomland, and maturing to some extent in 1978 by the government\'s claim over the so-called Kalayaan Island Group. Considered as an oceanic expansion of its frontiers, this paper reviews the basis of the claim, first over the nature of Cloma\'s activities, and secondly over the measures the Philippine government took as a reaction of Cloma\'s claim of discovery of an area already known in western cartography as the Spratlys. Eventually, what is the nature of the link between the 1978 Kalayaan Islands Group\'s official claim and 1956 Cloma\'s private one?
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- China, Philippines, and Island
2185. The Political Economy of Regionalism in East Asia. Integrative Explanation for Dynamics and Challenges
- Author:
- Mireya Solís
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- Challenge and opportunity – as Hidetaka Yoshimatsu reminds us in this fine book – define this momentous period in the history of East Asian regionalism. Adjustment to the forces of globalization (spearheaded now by the explosive growth of free trade agreements), to China's meteoric rise, and to income disparities in Indochina is a tall order for countries in the region. On the other hand, regional cooperation has made unprecedented progress with initiatives that go beyond inter-governmental negotiations in trade and finance, to cover Track II schemes on a multitude of areas such as the environment, product standard harmonization, and energy. And so, the unavoidable question is: will East Asia seize this historic opportunity to deepen regional solidarity or will it miss the boat?
- Topic:
- Climate Change
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
2186. Power and Security in Northeast Asia: Shifting Strategies
- Author:
- Yumi Hiwatari
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
- Institution:
- Japan Association of International Relations
- Abstract:
- This book highlights the shifting power structure of Northeast Asia. In the introduction, the editor considers a variety of issues in perspective, and power transition, economic interdependence, and democratization are viewed as key concepts in analyzing the radical transformation of the region. The impact of rising China on the power balance of the region is substantial, and the dynamic growth of the economy and the resulting growth of interdependence are the distinguishing characteristics of the region. The region is witnessing an ongoing process of democratization, possibly inviting an unpredictable future. While realistic predictions tell us that these dynamic changes will bring about armed conflicts among nations, the authors however conclude that power politics in Northeast Asia indicates 'an uneasy but resilient “equilibrium” of spatially and temporally asymmetric power relations' (p. 279). This equilibrium is termed uneasy because two elements of revisionism stand out, one being the Korean Peninsular and the other being Sino-Taiwan relations. The players involved all have unilateral revisionist incentives, but the likelihood of small crises escalating into major armed conflicts is remote, and their 'hedged engagement' strategy should control tensions and not allow them to spiral.
- Topic:
- Security and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- China, Taiwan, and Northeast Asia
2187. Indian FDI falls in global economic crisis: Indian multinationals tread cautiously
- Author:
- Jaya Prakash Pradhan
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Just over a year ago, outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from India seemed to be on a path of rapid and sustained growth. Its annual average growth of 98% during 2004–07 had been unprecedented , much ahead of OFDI growth from other emerging markets like China (74%), Malaysia (70%), Russia (53%), and the Republic of Korea (51%), although from a much lower base. Much of this recent growth had been fuelled by large-scale overseas acquisitions, however, and it faltered when the global financial crisis that started in late 2007 made financing acquisitions harder.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, South Asia, Malaysia, and Korea
2188. Where Minds Meet: The "Professionalization" of Cross-Strait Academic Exchange
- Author:
- Günter Schucher
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- In international relations, transnational academic exchange or, more generally, cultural exchange is usually seen as a function of the quality of bilateral relations. As a variety of public diplomacy intended to win the “hearts and minds” of intellectuals in another country, the development of educational exchanges depends on the twists in foreign policy. Academic exchange across the Taiwan Strait commenced in the late 1980s, directly after the lifting of the travel ban, and had gathered momentum by the mid-1990s. It even accelerated further after the inauguration of the pro-independence Chen-government in Taiwan in 2000, creating the “paradox” of the expansion of social contacts in times of frosty political relations. One possible explanation for this is that due to the rather unique situation in the Taiwan Strait people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China have been officially promoted as a substitute for official contacts. What is often neglected by analysts of cross-Strait relations, however, is the fact that academic exchange is also a response to the global pressure to internationalize higher education. Within this two-dimensional framework (international relations and the internationalization of higher education), cross-Strait academic exchange has been developing its own dynamic. The outcome has been an increasing amount of nonofficial communication and the growing “professionalization” (in the sense of the academic profession) of academic exchange.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- China, Taiwan, and Asia
2189. The United States and the Asia-Pacific Region: National Interests and Strategic Imperatives
- Author:
- James J. Przystup
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- From its earliest days, the United States has been engaged in trade with East Asia. In February 1784, the Empress of China left New York harbor, sailing east to China, arriving at Macau on the China coast in August of that year. The ship returned to the United States the following May with a consignment of Chinese goods, which generated a profit of $30,000. In 1844, China granted the United States trading rights in the Treaty of Wanghia.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Asia, and Australia/Pacific
2190. Pacific Asia and the Asia Pacific: The Choices for APEC
- Author:
- C. Fred Bergsten
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum comprises 21 developed and developing economies that surround the Pacific Rim. The organization was created in 1989 and holds annual Leaders' Meetings that bring together its heads of government. In this policy brief, I assess the record of the APEC over the 20 years of its existence and discuss the world environment in which APEC is likely to be operating in the next 20 years, with a particular focus on the major change in global institutional arrangements implied by the replacement of the Group of Seven/Eight (G-7/8) by the Group of Twenty (G-20) as the chief steering committee for the world economy and, within that group and other international economic organizations, the increasingly central role of an informal and de facto Group of Two (G-2) between China and the United States.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Asia, and Australia/Pacific