May 03,2015 Review Article

‘Povorot k Azii: Rossiskaia Vneshnaia Politika na Rubezhe Vekov i ee Activizatsiia na Vostochnom Napravlenii’ [‘The Pivot to Asia: Russia’s Foreign Policy at the Turn of the Century and Russia’s Shift to the East’]

A.V. Lukin, Povorot k Azii: Rossiskaia Vneshnaia Politika na Rubezhe Vekov i ee Activizatsiia na Vostochnom Napravlenii [The Pivot to Asia: Russia’s Foreign Policy at the Turn of the Century and Russia’s Shift to the East] (Moscow, Ves’ mir, 2014). The 2014 compilation of essays by Alexander Lukin is a fascinating glimpse at the gradual […]

Gregory Shtraks
February 27,2015 Review Article

‘Sengo 70nen hoshu no Ajiakan’ [‘The Asian Views of Conservatives over the Postwar 70 Years’]

Wakamiya Yoshibumi, Sengo 70nen hoshu no Ajiakan, [The Asian Views of Conservatives over the Postwar 70 Years] (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun shuppan, December 25, 2014) In the face of an unrelenting onslaught of criticism from Japanese conservatives, the progressive side, led by Asahi Shimbun, continues to make its case. Unlike the era of the Cold War, […]

Gilbert Rozman
collective self-defense , conservatism , hereditary leadership , Revisionism , Shinzo Abe , Yasukuni Shrine
December 19,2014 Review Article

‘The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia’

Saadia Pekkanen, John Ravenhill and Rosemary Foot, eds., Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) Broad implications of the emergence of a new regional order are brought to light in The Oxford Handbook of The International Relations of Asia, an impressive collection by many of the international relations (IR) […]

Steven Denney
Asia Paradox , economic hub , regional bifurcation
September 02,2014 Review Article

Japanese Publications on Japan-Russia Relations

Kaigai jijo, special Issue on turbulence in the sphere of the old Soviet Union, June 2014 Togo Kazuhiko, Hoppo ryodo kosho hiroku: ushinawareta gotabi no kikai [The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territory: Five Lost Windows of Opportunity] (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2007; rev. expanded paper edit. 2011). Kimura Hiroshi and Hakamada Shigeki, eds., […]

Gilbert Rozman
China , Japan , Mini-Soviet Union , National identity , National security , Putin’s visit to Japan , Russia , sanctions , Sphere of influence , Territorial Disputes
March 21,2014 Review Article

‘Sino-Japanese Relations after the Cold War: Two Tigers Sharing a Mountain’

Michael Yahuda, Sino-Japanese Relations after the Cold War: Two tigers Sharing a Mountain (London: Routledge: 2013) Bilateral relations between pairs of Northeast Asian countries—China, Japan, and South Korea– are becoming increasingly intertwined, always under the shadow of the United States. As we scrutinize new literature devoted to each of these relationships, we should be questioning […]

Audrye Wong
Balancing , hedging , Security dilemma , triangularity
January 27,2014 Review Article

Chinese Books on Japanese and Korean Images of China

Wu Guangwei, Riben de Zhongguo xingxiang [How Japan Views China] (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2010) Dong Xiangrong, Wang Xiaoleng, Li Yongchun, Hanguoren xinmuzhong de Zhongguo xingxiang [How the Koreans View China] (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2011) Liang Yunxiang, Riben waijiao yu Zhongri guanxi [Foreign Policy and Sino-Japanese Relations] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2012) Liu Jiangyong, et. al, […]

Gilbert Rozman
image control , media bias , public opinion , right wing ideology , soft power , views of China
November 22,2013 Review Article

New South Korean Academic Writings on Contemporary Japan and Japanese-Korean Relations

South Korean academic writings of 2013 provide a useful window through which students of Japan worldwide can observe Japan and Japanese-Korean relations. So far this year, I found that six books have been published on Japan and Japanese-Korean relations, as well as six articles in the two most prestigious journals of political science (The Korean […]

Kim Jiyoung*
Abe Shinzo , comfort women , lack of common goals , military power , threat perceptions
September 17,2013 Review Article

Making Headway on the “Economic-Security Nexus”: Contributions from Southeast Asia

What is the relationship between economic growth, interdependence, and competition on the one hand, and geopolitical security and stability on the other? Do international trade, production, and investment linkages intensify interdependence and foster common interests and values to the extent that they inhibit conflict? Or, is economic competition an inevitable extension of underlying geopolitical contests? […]

Evelyn Goh
ASEAN , Conflict Management , Economic Interdependence , Regime Insecurity , Vulnerability