Japanese youth consumption: A cultural and a social (r)evolution crossing borders

This paper deals with the issue of Japanese youth as the social group that is (r)evolutionising the consumption trends in their society by a cultural change in values and lifestyles. These changes are reflected in new ways of social relations, work, gender issues and mainly consumption patterns. Japanese youth is creating a pop culture of their own that is spreading around East and South-East Asia, affecting their consumption trends as well. Such influence confers a new identity to the region that will be a key issue for marketers in the 21^st century.The author thanks the help of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Technology through the R&D Project BS02003-07810, that enables the funding of this ongoing research.     

How do Asians evaluate Europe’s strategic involvement in East Asia?

Europe is neither in the centre of Southeast Asia’s nor of Northeast Asia’s strategic interest. For both, Asians and Europeans it has been equally difficult to articulate their visions of each other’s role in security matters. However, Asia recognizes positively the EU’s civilian dominated approach in peacekeeping missions, e.g. in East Timor or in Aceh. Europe’s contribution to the Asia Regional Forum has been rather modest. But due to the increasing importance of comprehensive security, Europe’s experiences as a soft power could well change this position, provided both sides pay more attention to the constraints of the two regions. China as the major power in the region is somehow caught between the devil and the deep blue sea: on one side, it neither wants nor expects Europe to play a strategic role in East Asia. On the other, it would like to see Europe to become a power of its own in a China-US-EU triangle. This paper is based on a speech given by the author in Paris/France on 8th December 2006 at a conference on ‘French and European Strategic Interests in East Asia’ organised by the ‘Asia Centre’ with the support of the Secrétariat général de la défense nationale (SGDN). Mr. Norbert von Hofmann is an independent consultant on Southeast Asian-European co-operation in Germany. Formerly he was the Head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Office for Regional Cooperation in Southeast Asia in Singapore.     

东亚文化圈和东亚价值观的历史考察——以中日韩(朝)越为主体的历史分析

本文拟对东亚文化圈和东亚价值观及两者之间的关系作一个历史的考察,进而分析传统的东亚价值观与构建当代价值观的关系。当代东亚各国都已成为现代化程度不同的独立的主权国家,东亚经济社会的发展、合作的加强和一体化的要求都使他们重新审观东亚各国共同拥有的历史文化遗产尤其是传统的东亚价值观的作用,特别是它在构建当代东亚价值观的作用。但一个时代有一个时代的价值观,儒家伦理已不可能作为当代价值观的体系和核心,但就有着深广影响的传统的东亚价值观和思想文化遗产而言,其优秀成份对于构建21世纪的东亚价值观大有裨益,需要我们取其精华,挖掘、整理、诠释。     

“东亚协同体论”与伪满“建国精神”

"七七"事变后,中国历史进入了全面抗战时期。日本帝国主义采取一系列军事行动的同时,加大了思想文化上的侵略力度。战争期流行的"东亚协同体论",就是为从思想文化上进行殖民扩张而制造的侵略理论。与伪满"建国精神"相比,这一文化渗透方式更加暧昧、更加隐蔽。从思想的内部关联看,可以发现它们具有同质性。     

历史视角下日本学界对东亚共同体的审视

日本学界通过不同的历史视角审视日本与东亚共同体的关系,并设定日本在东亚区域合作中的角色。积极看待古代东亚历史的日本学者,主张吸取近代日本殖民主义和帝国主义教训,日本应积极投身东亚共同体建设。强调东亚历史多样性和差异性的日本学者,主张日本应该借用西方的价值观念和东亚区域外的政治力量,进行东亚区域合作。而延续近代日本"脱亚入欧"历史视角的日本学者,坚决反对日本投身东亚共同体建设。     

论东亚文化合作中的儒学再现

笔者主张基于历史唯物主义原则，在世界多元文化格局中评价、研究和应用儒学。儒学既可以成为东亚文化合作的内容，也可以成为促进东亚社会发展的先进文化。以儒学为中心的文化合作，不仅仅是人文学术的合作，也应该提倡儒学理论与社会实践相结合，使儒学在实践中得到补充、完善和更新。儒学更新与东亚区域文化合作是一种互动、互利关系。东亚社会的和平发展将得益于儒学的更新和合理实践，得益于东亚各国平等而开放的对外文化关系政策。基于儒学的传统和理念，用文化合作观回应文化冲突论必将有利于协调个人与社会、不同的种族、民族乃至于人类与大自然之间的种种复杂关系。     

US economic statecraft in East Asia

Linkage politics in the US were revived after the terroristattacks in 2001 as the US endeavored to bolster its positionin the international system. This paper examines current USeconomic statecraft in East Asia, particularly through the useof the preferential trade agreement instrument. As the US encountersincreasing threats in the region through China's economic andmilitary expansion, the emergence of Islamic militancy, andcontinuing tensions on the Korean peninsula, it is attemptingto reinforce its strategic position through the economic reinforcementof its bilateral politico-military alliances. However, as theestablishment of its recent free trade agreements has revealed,neo-mercantilist politics, as motivated by US Congressionalattention to domestic lobbying, present a risk to this strategy.It is possible that this tendency to economic nationalism, asevidenced in the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement, willdetract from the broader purpose of reinforcing the US strategicposition in the region. Received for publication April 10, 2007. Accepted for publication February 19, 2008.     

保护东南亚的文化多样性：东南亚的人类口头非物质遗产

东南亚地区是世界知名的人类文化多样性的宝库，在全球化时代，保护本土民俗文化、民族传统的传承和发展成为了紧迫的任务。21世纪，联合国教科文组织把东南亚地区的9项非物质文化列入了“人类口头非物质遗产代表作”名录。本文首先梳理了“口头非物质遗产”这一文化概念的定义，以及其中的社会话语内涵；然后把入选的9项代表作进行分类归纳，探讨它们的特点；最后分析了这些代表作在文化多样性保护中面临的问题和相应的保护行动。     

The petroleum factor in Sino-Japanese relations: beyond energy cooperation

China and Japan used to have good energy cooperation beforeChina switched into a net oil importer in the mid-1990s, butthe recent years have witnessed an increasingly intensive competitionbetween the two countries over petroleum supplies. While manysaw such competition as inevitable with China's growing energydemands, the paper argues that the energy relationship betweenthe two countries was never separated from political and strategicconcerns, and heavily affected by the concern of ‘relativegains’, as suggested by the neorealists. Like the caseprior to the mid-1990s when the non-energy factors underpinnedthe Sino–Japanese energy cooperation, the key factorsthat prevented the two from continuing energy cooperation todayalso lay in political and strategic aspects. Being two regionalpowers in East Asia, China, and Japan need to recognize thefact that their lack of energy cooperation due to mutual politicaldistrust will not only impair their own energy security, butmay also have negative implications on regional stability.     

Japanese and American Perspectives on East Asian Regionalism

Regular convening of East Asian summits and rising concernsabout the American dollar have heightened interest in Asiancooperation. Japan will necessarily play a central role in regionalendeavors, and the United States must at least acquiesce ifregional coordination is to progress. Among American accounts,the most theoretically elaborate and systematically comparativeanalysis is A World of Regions, while Remapping East Asia providesthe most authoritative overview of recent developments. Japanese-languagestudies of East Asian regionalism agree that regional cooperationis far less institutionalized and rule-based in East Asia thanin Europe, but they include a wider range of opinion about thedesirability and feasibility of cooperation. Skeptics on theright warn that efforts to create a regional community wouldweaken the United States–Japan alliance, undermine universalvalues, and cede regional leadership to China. Optimists onthe left counter that regional cooperation holds out the onlyhope for ameliorating nationalist conflicts. Most numerous arecentrists arguing for active cooperation on economics and theenvironment, but only cautious moves on politics and security.Despite their caution, Japanese authors convey a sense thatchanges to the American-led global and regional order are occurringand likely will continue.     

美国经济霸权与全球经济失衡

当前世界经济发展的一个重要特征,就是全球经常账户失衡,美国的逆差持续扩大,且顺差国主要集中在东亚地区。这种现象的出现,是东亚经济依附于美国经济霸权的必然结果。由于对美国商品市场和金融市场存在着双重依赖,东亚地区成为当今美国经济霸权最重要的支撑者。正是由于双方在世界经济发展中的这种不对称地位,调整失衡的压力将主要由东亚来承担。     

The European defence plans: Filling the transatlantic gaps

The geographic proximity of Central Asia to Russia, China, the Caucasus and the Caspian region, as well as to the Middle East, makes this oil and gas-producing region a crucial and ever-developing player in regional and global energy markets. The method by which Central Asian producers choose to develop their hydrocarbon resources and export infrastructure will have significant implications for the plans for diversification of oil and gas supplies of Europe, China and India, as well as for Russia's energy exports to Europe. It is still too early to tell whether the economic and political incentives are strong enough to promote cooperation between the various actors or whether the energy interests of these key external powers are so diverse as to clash in Central Asia.     

Regional and multi-level governance: East Asian leadership after the global financial crisis

Although the economies of East Asia emerged from the global financial crisis of 2008 in comparatively strong positions, they remain structurally embedded within global markets. The degree of regional integration that has occurred within East Asia is thus predicated on the on-going interdependence with the economies of Europe and North America. Moves to advance East Asian regional cooperation in the wake of the crisis reflect this global interdependence, as well as intra-regional differences in interests and a lack of strong leadership within the region. Modest cooperation on an East Asian basis has continued since 2008 but the region is very far from realising a substantive regional governance model on economic and financial issues and does not appear to be pursuing a distinctive governance agenda. This article examines recent developments in East Asian regional cooperation, with a view to assessing the significance of current achievements and explaining the mixed and sometimes contradictory nature of initiatives for regional governance in East Asia.     

试论东盟对东亚共同体形成所起的作用

近10余年来由于受到“全球化”大潮的冲击,在东亚也出现了“地域化”思潮。面对同样的挑战,东亚各国已经意识到采取共同的经济文化防卫机制的迫切性与重要性。其中,东盟各国表现出了强烈的主体性。从亚洲主义的角度分析东亚地域所产生的“地域化”、“本土化”趋势的实质,可以确证东盟对东亚地区的经济合作、文化共创进而对东亚共同体的最终形成将日益发挥越来越重要的作用。     

ASIA-EUROPE MEETING (ASEM): fostering a multipolar world order through inter-regional cooperation

Since its inception in 1996 ASEM has provided an opportunity for focussing relations between the EU and East Asia as a forum for informal multilayered dialogue and building a framework for enhanced cooperation in the political, economic and social/cultural fields. Inter-regionalism, of which ASEM is the incarnation in the EU-Asia relationship, developed into an important policy tool of the EU in an effort to maintain a multipolar setting. Regional identities in Asia are at a different level when comparing South East Asia, North East Asia, East Asia and South and Central Asia. ASEM contributed to a certain extent to the region building in East Asia. Although the economic pillar of ASEM turned out to be the more important one when compared to the political and the people-to-people pillars, it will not become the basis for a (deep) inter-regional free trade agreement because of the diversity of the Asian members, reinforced by the last ASEM enlargement. However, turning weakness into strength, ASEM could become the EU’s vehicle for a more holistic approach to Asia thereby fostering a more economic and political multipolar world order. The financial melt down of the international financial order lead to the rediscovery of the need for international cooperation not only on the level of business but also among states. Making use of ASEM, developed over the last 12 years, could provide the much needed platform in the EU-Asia relationship. The author, Adjunct Professor for International Politics at the University of Innsbruck, formerly served as ASEM Counsellor of the European Commission as well as Minister and Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan and is presently EC Ambassador to Switzerland. He contributes this paper solely in his academic capacity and the views expressed should not be attributed to the European Commission; the thoughtful comments by Brigid Gavin on the draft are appreciated and the research assistance of Tilo Wagner is recognised.

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Popular perceptions of political regimes in East and Southeast Asia

Political regimes in East and Southeast Asia run the full spectrum from liberal democracy through various hybrid democratic-authoritarian types and on to full-blown authoritarianism and totalitarianism. While political scientists have invested much effort and ingenuity in creating typologies of regimes to better understand the empirical diversity of political structures and processes, much less attention has been paid to what the citizens think. How do people in East and Southeast Asian countries perceive their own institutions and performance of governance? This article uses public opinion data derived from the AsiaBarometer 2006 and 2007 Surveys of 12 East and Southeast Asian countries to map what citizens actually think about their structures, processes, and outcomes of governance and compare these with the regime classifications of political scientists. The results revealed universal commitment to elections but disillusionment with political practice, positive estimations of the institutions of governance in Southeast Asia but much less enthusiasm in East Asia, and a preference for moderate opinions. There is no clear overall correlation between regime type and popular perception.     

Asian literature as a tool for cultural identity creation in Europe. Goethe’s Hafiz

By the eighteenth century the colonial powers in Europe already had well-defined images and self-images, crystalised from their native cultures, their significance within Europe, and their mercantile and political relations with other continents. Yet Germany, which would have no prospect of a unified polity till late in the following century, remained severely challenged in all these respects. From the mid eighteenth century, however, Germany’s greatest minds sought to mould for it a cultural identity, and as a vital step in this, the poet, statesman and scientist Goethe, a man indebted to a form of patronage which peculiarly qualified him to undertake such experiments, conducted a series of literary encounters with the great traditions of Asia. Their purpose was to situate Germany within the wider world culture, for one can only be a cultural force within a world to which one has some cultural relation. Goethe’s forays into the worlds of Persian, Indian and Chinese literature were attempts at creative imitation, cultural absorption and public confrontation, but their culture-building and appropriative character was also a form of vicarious imperialism, a new-world enterprise conducted by means of old-world patronage. Goethe’s carefully nuanced representations in the West-Eastern Divan indicate the advocacy of a secular cosmopolitanism, the popular impact of which has been hitherto underestimated.     

Balance of Power Politics and the Rise of China: Accommodation and Balancing in East Asia

Realists agree that great powers balance the military power of rising powers, but there is little agreement regarding secondary-state responses to rising powers. First, there are differences regarding whether secondary states balance or accommodate rising powers. Second, there are differences among realists regarding the distinct roles of economic and military factors in secondary-state alignment policies. Third, some scholars argue that state alignments are not necessarily determined by realist variables, but can reflect preferences shaped by intentions, historical experiences, or cultural influences. This paper addresses these issues in balance-of-power theory. Its empirical focus is the impact of the rise of China on secondary-state alignments in East Asia. After examining the complex mix of China's military and economic reach in East Asia, it concludes that secondary-state behavior is sensitive to local variation in the great power capabilities and that secondary states tend to accommodate rather than balance rising powers. It further concludes that economic capabilities alone are insufficient to generate accommodation, so that the political-economy literature should reexamine cases of apparent secondary-state accommodation to economic dependency, sensitive to the presence of military vulnerability on the part these secondary states to proximate great powers. These conclusions suggest that there is nothing sui generis or culturally-determined in East Asian international politics and that realism can explain alignment behavior among East Asian states as well as it does among European states. Research on East Asia's response to China's rise that is sensitive to intra-regional variations in U.S. and Chinese military and economic capabilities also challenges assumptions of an emerging Chinese regional hegemony or of a costly region-wide U.S.-China competition.     

From inter-regionalism to trans-regionalism? Future challenges for ASEM

  At the fundamental level, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) framework represents an endeavour by the European Union and a group of East Asian states to forge closer inter-regional relations between them. This paper examines the global and tripolar contexts in which ASEM emerged, and its position in the new post-Cold War architecture of international relations. It more specifically considers the prime motivating factors of both the EU and East Asia for initially promoting the ASEM idea. The main purposes, structures, processes and achievements of ASEM inter-regional diplomacy are then studied. Regarding the latter, it is argued that ASEM's achievements can be broadly judged by the extent it has fostered micro-networking and macro-networking linkages between both regions. Micro-networking primarily relates to ASEM's various socialisation processes and functions on which wider macro-networking ties between the peoples of Europe and East Asia can be further built. However, Eurasian links are still relatively under-developed in comparison to their transpacific and transatlantic counterparts. As such, ASEM faces many challenges ahead along the long path to establishing East Asia – EU trans-regionalism.     

Monetary policy and overinvestment in East Asia and Europe

The paper analyzes the role of monetary policy for cyclical movements of investment and asset markets in East Asia and Europe based on a Mises-Hayek overinvestment framework. It is shown how the gradual global decline of interest rates has triggered wandering overinvestment cycles in Japan, Southeast Asia, and China. Similarly, it is shown how a one-size monetary policy within the European Monetary Union has not preserved the European Monetary Union from idiosyncratic economic development and crisis because of uncoordinated fiscal policies. With monetary policy crisis management being argued to impede financial and economic restructuring, a timely exit from ultra-expansionary monetary policies is recommended for both East Asia and Europe to reconstitute economic stability and growth.