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This book analyses the Japanese-South Korean relationship from various angles including politics, security, economics, culture and immigration. In a sense the two countries are natural partners. Both are democratic societies, they are economically strong and are the only two Asian countries that are members of the OECD. Both have security treaties with the USA, they share security concerns when it comes to the North Korean nuclear threat as well as the rise of China, which at the same time has become the largest trading partner for both. Japan and South Korea also share similar values, customs, cultures and languages. All this would make it logical for them to have a strong cooperative bilateral relationship. Yet this is still not the case. The contributors to this book examine how the relationship is affected by the changing power relations in Northeast Asia and find a most complex situation. Understanding how Japan and Korea interact is central for anyone that wants to understand the politics of East Asia. This volume will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, as well as those interested in political science and peace and conflict resolution more generally. Marie Söderberg is Professor and Director of the European Institute of Japanese Studies, Sweden.

Civil wars and internal conflicts pose the greatest threat to international peace and security in the twenty-first century. Nowhere is this problem more acute than in East Asia and the Pacific, which has far more of its share of such conflicts. Unraveling Internal Conflicts in East Asia and the Pacific: Incidence, Consequences, and Resolution, edited by Jacob Bercovitch and Karl DeRouen, Jr., is a book of originally commissioned essays on civil wars which provide a compelling area of inquiry. Many of the Asia-Pacific region's wars are very long (such as in Myanmar), some tend to recur (also in Myanmar); some involve religion (Philippines, Thailand), and some (Aceh, Bougainville, East Timor) of the longest have ended in the last few years. In short, the region presents a variety of interesting dynamics that merit close attention in one volume. The aim of Unraveling Internal Conflicts in East Asia and the Pacific is to provide an original look at these civil wars. The unique feature of the book is that it brings a variety of perspectives together into one volume. Bercovitch and DeRouen, Jr., do this in four sections: The first, titled \"Security and Internal Conflicts in the Region,\" is an overview of conflict and conflict management in the region. Section Two is called \"Features of Conflict in the Region.\" Here the authors cover conflict contours, including intractability, conflict resolution, recurrence, and Islam. Section Three, \"External Involvement in Regional Conflicts,\" focuses on third party intervention in regional conflicts. The individual chapters cover mediation, peacekeeping, and other forms of third party involvement. The final section ties the chapters together. Unraveling Internal Conflicts in East Asia and the Pacific: Incidence, Consequences, and Resolution, edited by Jacob Bercovitch and Karl DeRouen, Jr., provides a fresh and comprehensive look at conflict in the part of the world where internal conflict is most prevalent.

The Asia-Pacific region has been enjoying fast growing economy. As President Barack Obama's \"pivot to Asia\" strategy indicates, this region is an engine for the world economic growth. However, the Asia-Pacific has also been an unstable region suffering from many sources of conflicts such as disputes on Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, the unsettled Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) borders, and many others. Do we need a hegemonic power to stabilize this region? What can we do to deal with the emergence of China? How can we understand anti-Japanese feelings? Is there any way to deal with the problem on Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands? How can we analyze nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula? Can the European Union make any contribution to stabilizing the Asia-Pacific region? Those are some of the concrete questions this book tackles with in order to find ways and means to establish a more amicable Asia-Pacific region.

This book explores the idea of responsible government in East Asia, arguing that many recent governance crises have resulted from responsibility failures on a huge scale.  It distinguishes between accountability, which it argues has been overemphasised recently, and responsibility, which it argues goes beyond accountability, true responsible government involving the actor in feeling liable for and taking responsibility for his or her actions.  It shows how historically the concept of responsibility is more embedded in political discussions in Asia, whereas the concepts of democracy and accountability are more embedded in the intellectual traditions of Europe, but that the challenges of revolution and post-revolution, decolonization and post-colonization and neo-liberal globalization have complicated matters.  Drawing on a wide range of case studies from East Asia, and relating the concepts discussed to political theory, ethics and social psychology, the book shows how actors in government and society interact to deliberate, produce or distract from the practice and perception of \"responsible government\", and suggests how the concept of \"responsible government\", better defined, might be encouraged to produce better governance. 

This book argues that the 21st century will witness a fundamental global shift in economic and military hegemonic power from the U.S.-European sphere to the U.S.-Asia-Pacific region. The rise of China is recognized as the primary reason for the resurgence of the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century, but several other countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia, are also becoming increasingly important geostrategic players within the region. And, there is the real potential for the development of a new and dynamic regional organization that would address the future economic and security challenges, dangers, and prospects confronting Asia-Pacific as the 21st century unfolds. Professor Randall Doyle provides a detailed and expansive overview of what is quickly becoming the fastest developing and most important region in the world. Dr. Doyle believes geography, hegemony, and politics will represent the foundational pillars for change, progress, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region during the 21st century.

This book examines the changing national identities that are transforming East Asia - pushing China and Taiwan apart and toward a showdown, while propping up a weakened North Korea. Accomplished contributors analyze the dynamics and the U.S.'s policy response.

Until the dramatic economic collapse of 1997, East Asia was the symbol of a successful market-led development strategy for Western governments, aid agencies and academics, despite underlying concerns about a lack of rights and freedoms. The crisis changed Asia and the world; currency depreciations, personal and state indebtedness, mass unemployment and rioting brought the paternalistic capitalist phase to an end in Asia. The decade following the economic crisis has seen a swift response, with the major restructuring of Asian economies, improved corporate governance, banks recapitalized, more attention paid to the environment and foreign exchange reserves restored so the IMF became redundant in Asia. Dividing the countries that emerged from the crisis into three categories - the Insecure Rich, the New Aspirants for Prosperity and the Danger Zone - Noman analyses the complex Asian recovery and future challenges within the framework of Responsible Development, an agenda for Asia that emphasizes the simultaneous challenge of building sustainable democracies, a viable environment and an equitable economy. Covering the many related issues that pose a threat to Asian economic stability - climate change, religious fascism, inequality and hunger - this book will have particular relevance in the areas of development studies, economics, international politics and Asian studies.

Under what conditions is a newly democratic government likely to increase transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to its citizens? What incentives might there be for bureaucrats, including those appointed by a previously authoritarian government, to carry out the wishes of an emerging democratic regime? Responsive Democracy addresses an important problem in democratic transition and consolidation: the ability of the chief executive to control the state bureaucracy. Using three well-chosen case studies—the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan—Jeeyang Rhee Baum explores the causes and consequences of codifying rules and procedures in a newly democratic government. In the Philippines, a president facing opposition has the option of appointing and dismissing officials at will and, therefore, has no need for administrative procedure acts. However, in South Korea and Taiwan, presidents employ such legislation to rein in recalcitrant government agencies, and, as a consequence, increase transparency, accountability, and responsiveness. Moreover, as Baum demonstrates by drawing upon surveys conducted both before and after implementation, administrative procedural reforms in South Korea and Taiwan improved public confidence in and attitudes toward democratic institutions.

As rapid economic development brings increasing uncertainty in East Asia, interest in a new version of republicanism, termed iscalled neo-Roman republicanism, is growing across the region. Conceptualized as liberty as non-domination, this new form of republicanism has inspired not only Western but also East Asian political theorists. However, neo-Roman republican ideas in Northeast Asian countries continue to face serious conceptual and political challenges, which scholarly literature on both republicanism and on East Asian politics has largely failed to confront. This book addresses these challenges by surveying the latest theoretical contributions to the studies of republicanism in Western countries and the latest interpretations of how republicanism, including both communitarian republicanism and neo-Roman republicanism, has been appropriated in countries in East Asia. In particular, it deals with the key question of whether liberty as non-domination can work in non-Western contexts where the fundamental tenets of liberal democracy, such as moral individualism and value pluralism, do not predominate. Across three sections, the chapters first provide a conceptual overview of republicanism as a global political theory, they then consider how republicanism has historically been received, resisted, and translated into East Asia., and Ffinally, they examine how historically informed possibilities fit with the emergent needs of contemporary Northeast Asian societies. Overall, the contributors show that republicanism is an always-ongoing project, whose terms must be interpreted and translated into the various communities they inform. Normative considerations about whether or how republicanism applies in East Asia cannot be divorced from historical and empirical approaches which consider the various ways in which republican ideals reflect the realities of life there. Dealing with the issue of republicanism from a new, comparative perspective, this boo

The aim of the book is to provide readers with an understanding of the important and emerging political, economic and social trends and challenges in East Asia in the coming years. There is urgency to conduct such a review of the state of East Asian affairs as the international and regional environments seemed to be headed towards greater uncertainty. At the international level, the European Union (EU) continues to grapple with its debt crisis with no clear resolution in sight. On the other side of the Atlantic, the US is gearing up for its presidential and congressional elections that will take place towards the end of 2012. The outcome of these elections would have implications for America's relations with countries in East Asia, particularly China. Already, in the run-up to these elections, potential candidates have whipped up anti-China sentiments or even called for tough anti-China measures to appeal their respective constituencies.