Marie Söderberg

This important collection analyses the changing context of China's relationship with Japan. Its eminent international contributors address core issues including strategic concerns; security; the issue of Taiwan; diplomacy; economic relations; trade; the role of firms and currency. The book brings together a wide range of perspectives to offer a rich and varied understanding of one of Asia's most crucial and complex relationships.

Complementarity and Conflict

Chinese-Japanese Relations in the Twenty First Century

Paul Midford

Christopher W. Hughes

Axel Berkofsky

Both the European Union and Japan have been major beneficiaries and supporters of the liberal international order, first led by the United States since the end of World War II. During this period, they have emerged as global powers, however, the very order that nurtured their rise is now facing twin threats. First, through authoritarian China’s promotion of alternative models of global governance, and second from a crisis of liberalism, manifested in the policies of President Donald Trump and Brexit. This book explores these challenges faced by both the EU and Japan, providing a multidisciplinary approach to studying the relationship between the two. It analyses their cooperation in terms of security, defence and trade and examines how their shared normative values are ultimately implemented. Having recently concluded an Economic Partnership Agreement and with a Strategic Partnership Agreement in the pipeline, this book asks whether they can convert their latent and modest cooperation into an alternative form of leadership and an antidote to the illiberal tide sweeping the developed world? As the first book to shed light on the new Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese Studies, as well as European Union politics and international political economy more generally.

The Crisis of Liberalism

The EU–Japan Partnership in the Shadow of China

Linus Hagström

North Korea features highly on the agenda of the main actors in East Asia and around the globe, and many large foreign policy initiatives have been undertaken since the structural constraints of the Cold War started to loosen in the early 1990s. The centrality of North Korea has been particularly emphasized by the country's suspected development of nuclear weapons which is regarded as one of the largest de-stabilising factors in the Asia-Pacific region. This comprehensive book analyzes the formation of the North Korea policy in the context of great power relations in East Asia, specifically focusing on Japan's policy formation and 'the Japan factor' in the North Korea policies of other concerned great powers, namely the US, China, Russia, South Korea and the EU. By adopting an empirical focus on the international interaction over North Korea, this book brings together issues that are highly relevant to contemporary Japanese foreign policy; clarifies what is happening in the region right now and plots what policy options are available for the future. Policy-oriented and based on careful empirical analysis, North Korea Policy will appeal to both policy makers and scholars of Asian foreign policy.

Japan and the Great Powers

North Korea Policy

Ken Coates

Kimie Hara

Carin Holroyd

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

Marie Söderberg

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