Viewing the rise of China from Japan's perspective, the author elucidates Japanese policy responses and their implications for regional institution building. It fills a gap in knowledge about the development of East Asian regional institutions and Sino-Japanese relationships.

Embedded in the evolving comparative regionalism literature, this book offers a systematic analysis of the factors positively and negatively influencing regional institution-building. The ruptures caused by the Eurozone crises, the coronavirus pandemic and by Brexit have renewed the interest in the impact of crises and critical junctures on regionalism here defined as regional institution-building. Drawing from critical juncture research and historical comparative analysis, this volume uses the cases of European and East Asian regional institution-building to systematically analyse institutional transformations during specific historical turning points and critical juncture moments. Wunderlich's research offers an in-depth analysis of the interrelated drivers, spoilers and dissolvers of regional institution-building processes in Europe and East Asia, and addresses key questions including: Under what conditions does regionalism take hold? What is influencing the initial institutional design choices? What is the impact of historical experiences and well-entrenched norms and ideas? What are the roles of regional leaders? How do external factors influence regional institution-building? What turns a crisis into a critical juncture and are such junctures threats or opportunities? What accounts for variations in institutional responses to crisis events across different regional settings? This book will be a valuable resource for scholars of regionalism, region-building, regional governance and international relations of Europe and East Asia.

With its long history of internal divisiveness and its intersecting cultural and linguistic cleavages, East Asia is undoubtedly a complex area. However, the idea of East Asia as a regional entity is one that is relatively recent – a concept that gained momentum after the financial crisis that rocked the region in the 1990s. In recent years, East Asia has become considerably more interdependent, connected and cohesive. This increased cohesiveness has been driven by a dense network of trade and investments, technology sharing and communication, among many other variables and has been reflected in the increasing institutionalisation of regional mechanisms like the ASEAN. Regionalism is not, however, entirely about economic interdependence. In today’s day and age, it means not only overarching social networks and a regional identity, but also strategic thinking that recognises common security interests. This book takes into account the regional discourses of two of East Asia’s biggest players – the United States and China. While the former has been a power to reckon with, albeit “externally”, deeply entrenched in the region since the end of the Second World War, the rise of China in the 21st century and its emergence as the largest power in East Asia has brought a new perspective to East Asian regionalism. In 2010, the United States began reasserting itself in East Asia, bringing into sharp focus the ideological differences between itself and China as each vied to shape the architecture of East Asian security. There is no doubt that heightened American interest comes at a time when China’s own views of regionalism have become noticeably less cooperative. While balance of power politics is one way to look at the geopolitical tug-of-war in East Asia, there are questions that have not yet been answered. How do the two countries look at a region that is so important for them? How has that perception influenced their foreign policy within the same arena? More importantly, how do they define East Asia? This book studies American and Chinese regional discourses from the end of the Cold War to the present day in order to highlight the rationale behind the natural balance of power politics between an established power and a rising one, and its subsequent effects on security regionalism in East Asia.

This collection of selected studies by well-known experts in major Asian countries surveys, discusses and analyzes emerging problems and challenges facing them. It proposes prescriptions for better regional economic integration and more effective economic management in the future. The book's area of study includes economics and business development, development economics, trade and investment, global competitiveness economics policy in Asia, globalisation, the WTO, and regional and international economic integration.

China and East Asian Strategic Dynamics: the Shaping of a New Regional Order, edited by Mingjiang Li and Dongmin Lee, examines how China's remarkable economic growth and its proactive diplomatic efforts in recent years have not only shored up its importance in global issues, but also induced a transformation of the strategic dynamics in East Asia. The authors argue that major power relations in the region appear to be driven by some new momentum along with the changing international environment. The contributors of this edited volume are well-known scholars in their areas of specialty, and the book is divided into five parts. The first part discusses China's soft and hard power in East Asia. The second examines China and the strategic interactions between major powers; this particular section is devoted to discussion on the strategic responses of the major regional powers_the United States, Japan, Korea, India and ASEAN_to China's rise. Part three focuses on China's strategic approach to East Asian regionalism. Of particular note are China's active leadership role in institution-building efforts, strategic calculations, and preference for an informal approach. The fourth section analyzes the Cross-Taiwan Strait relations and their impact on both China and East Asia. The final section of China and East Asian Strategic Dynamics addresses the issue of China and maritime order in East Asia. China and East Asian Strategic Dynamics: the Shaping of a New Regional Order, edited by Mingjiang Li and Dongmin Lee, is a pioneering work. Given that the rise of China is has been a prominent issue in politics and economics worldwide, this edited collection is essential for a wide audience of policy-makers, academics, and students alike.

Developments in East Asia have progressed rapidly in terms of regionalism since the 1997 crisis. The end of the Asian miracle called into question not only the capacity of regional states to meet the needs of their attendant peoples, but also challenged the viability of regional organizations, such as ASEAN, to adapt and respond to the changing circumstances. Advancing East Asian Regionalism looks at the ways in which ASEAN has expanded since the crisis, and evaluates the potential of East Asia to come together in a regional formation - one capable of representing the region as a whole - akin to the European Community. It draws upon the knowledge and perspectives of academics and policy makers actively engaged in the contradictory issues of regionalism. Coupling case study material on regionalism, institutions, and sectoral cooperation, with theoretical debates on regionalization, this book is an invaluable resource that pushes our understanding of East Asian regionalism forward.

Analyses modern tendencies in the development of regional economic cooperation in East Asia which is considered by regional countries as their response to growing challenges of globalization.

This book seeks to explain two core paradoxes associated with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): How have diverse states hung together and stabilized relations in the face of competing interests, divergent preferences, and arguably weak cooperation? How has a group of lesser, self-identified Southeast Asian powers gone beyond its original regional purview to shape the form and content of Asian Pacific and East Asian regionalisms? According to Alice Ba, the answers lie in ASEAN's founding arguments: arguments that were premised on an assumed regional disunity. She demonstrates how these arguments draw critical causal connections that make Southeast Asian regionalism a necessary response to problems, give rise to its defining informality and consensus-seeking process, and also constrain ASEAN's regionalism. Tracing debates about ASEAN's intra- and extra-regional relations over four decades, she argues for a process-driven view of cooperation, sheds light on intervening processes of argument and debate, and highlights interacting material, ideational, and social forces in the construction of regions and regionalisms.

In the decade following the Asian financial crisis, the East Asian political economy has experienced a radical transformation. This book thus investigates the responses of Japanese automotive makers to the processes of regionalism and regionalization by locating firm-level analysis in a broader political economy context.

China's importance in the Asia-Pacific has been on the rise, raising concerns about competition the United States. The authors examined the reactions of six U.S. allies and partners to China's rise. All six see China as an economic opportunity. They want it to be engaged productively in regional affairs, but without becoming dominant. They want the United States to remain deeply engaged in the region.