Ken Coates

Kimie Hara

Canada, Russia and the United States have expressed a renewed interest in the region, and East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and China are now increasingly fixated on prospects offered by the Arctic; however, Arctic and East Asian nations have not yet engaged in extensive discussions about competing and complementary activities and responsibilities in the Far North. This volume is an outcome of an international collaborative project that launched a focused and detailed conversation about the historic, contemporary and future dimensions of East Asian countries’ relationships and interests in the Arctic. Bringing together leading experts from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, the United States and Canada, it draws policy-making and scholarly attention to East Asia’s growing interests in the Far North, and identifies political, economic, legal and security connections between the two regions.

Boundary, Security and International Politics

East Asia-Arctic Relations

Carin Holroyd

Marie Söderberg

Bringing together the work of sixteen international Japan specialists and scholars, this book analyzes Japan’s culture and history to reflect on the critical policy decisions and national commitments required for the country to continue to succeed. Comparing the current situation with the uncertainties of the late nineteenth century, this book investigates the possibility and desirability of a "New Meiji Transformation" in Japan. Set in the context of perceived demographic, ecological, fiscal and political decline in Japan, it explores what a New Meiji initiative would look like in the twenty-first century and whether a new era of renewal is needed to maintain and improve quality of life. An interdisciplinary volume, this book covers contemporary issues in Japanese foreign, defense and nuclear strategies, as well as its aging population, higher education structure and environmental policies. As such Japan’s Future and a New Meiji Transformation will be of great interest to students and scholars of Japanese politics, economics and history, as well as Asian Studies more generally.

International Reflections

Japan's Future and a New Meiji Transformation

After World War II, many regional conflicts emerged in the Asia-Pacific, such as the divided Korean peninsula, the Cross-Taiwan Strait, the ‘Northern Territories’, (Southern Kuriles) Takeshima (Dokdo), Senkaku (Diaoyu) and the Spratly (Nansha) islands problems. These and other disputes, such as the Okinawa problem in relation to the US military presence in the region, all share an important common foundation in the post-war disposition of Japan, particularly the 1951 Peace Treaty. Signed by forty-nine countries in San Francisco, this multilateral treaty significantly shaped the post-war international order in the region, and with its associated security arrangements, laid the foundation for the regional Cold War structure, the "San Francisco System." This book examines the history and contemporary implications of the "San Francisco System," with particular focus on its frontier problems. Drawing on extensive archival research and in-depth analysis, Kimie Hara uncovers key links between the regional problems in the Asia-Pacific and their underlying association with Japan, and explores the clues for their future resolution within the multilateral context in which they originated. Cold War Frontiers in the Asia-Pacific will appeal to students and scholars interested in international relations of the Asia-Pacific region, diplomatic history and Japanese diplomacy.

Divided Territories in the San Francisco System

Cold War Frontiers in the Asia-Pacific

Tim F. Liao

Krista Wiegand

Crossing disciplinary boundaries, this volume offers a rare forum for a serious analysis of the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands between China and Japan. To understand the complexity of the dispute and to find peaceful solutions, we must reach beyond the confines of a single discipline and perspective. The volume deconstructs conflicting perspectives on the two sides of the dispute. Territorial disputes often become symbolic expressions of nationalistic rivalries, particularly as political claims for territories escalate and economic competition for resources between countries intensifies. Cutting through the political rhetoric on both sides of the controversy and bringing together a group of eight scholars from the disciplines of history, international relations, law, political science, and sociology, this book analyzes the relevant history, international law, multilateral relations, political agendas, and social and collective memory, to shed light on this difficult dispute. Taken together, the chapters of the book propose short-term, medium-term, and long-term peaceful solutions for going beyond the impasse of the current territorial dispute.

Islands of Contention in Multidisciplinary Perspective

The China-Japan Border Dispute

Geoffrey Jukes

This volume is the fruit of an international collaborative study, which considers the Åland islands settlement in northern Europe as a resolution model for the major Asia-Pacific regional conflicts that derived from the post-World War II disposition of Japan, with particular focus on the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, the Northern Territories/Southern Kuriles problem. The contributors provide analysis of the Åland settlement, the Japan-Russia territorial dispute and Åland-inspired solution ideas by experts from all over the world, including government officials, scholars and military specialists. Northern Territories, Asia-Pacific Regional Conflicts and the Aland Experience will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics working in Asian studies, politics, international relations, conflict resolution and security studies.

Kimie Hara

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