A New Perspective on the Transition of the East Asian Order——A Review of China's Rise and the Transition of the East Asian Order:Shaping and Expanding of Shared Interests

The current world situation, which is undergoing profound changes, is still in the process of post-Cold War transition.     

East Asian Summit and Deepening of Regional Integration

After seven years of operation of the ASEAN 10+3 mechanism, the first East Asian Summit will be held in Malaysia at the end of the year. This epoch-making event in East Asia signifies a big step toward regional integration in East Asia, attracting worldwide attention, and even a prediction has been made that 2005 will become “the first year to establish East Asia Community.” The fundamental motive force of East Asia integration comes from extreme overlapping of national interests and …     

United States and East Asian Integration

Witnessing the development and progress of East Asian integration,especially the adoption of the goal of East Asian Community,both U.S. officials and academic circles have been showing more interest in and paying growing attention to the     

Managing East Asia''''s Political and Security Risks:From the Perspective of Transition of International Order

In the sixty years after World War II, albeit with unceasing local conflicts, Asia as a whole moved into a relatively stable period of peace. It has been also a period of the most rapid and sound development in history indeed. However, the international order has broken down, and it is in a historical transition period. Different from the transition of international order at     

Present Condition,Problems and Prospects of East Asian Regional Cooperation

Inrecentyears熏withthespeeding-upofeconomicglobalizationandregionalintegration熏countriesinEastAsia熏takingintoconsiderationeconomicre鄄turnsandnationalsecurity熏haveactivelyconductedmultilateraldialogueandcooperationinsuchareasaspolitics熏economyandsecurityinapragmaticmanner.Regionalcooperationhasbeenintheas鄄cendant.Furtherstrengthenedandincreasinglyin鄄tensifiedregionalcooperationinEastAsiaisnotonlyconducivetopeace熏stabilityandprosperityinthisregion熏butalsowillhaveafar-reachingbear鄄ingo…     

A Preliminary Analysis of the Islamic World in Transition

The Islamic world represents an important force to be reckoned with in the international political arena. Being endowed with huge oil and gas resources and commanding a special strategic position on a vital route for international commerce, trade and shipping, it has always been a focus of contention among major powers, and is now an area to which the U. S. global strategy pays special attention. Under the double pressure of economic     

China and Japan in East Asian Regional Economic Cooperation

Ⅰ．EastAsianEconomicSituation１．SharpContrastbetweenEastAsianDe－velopingCountriesandJapanAfterovercomingthedifficultiesoftheEastAsianfinancialcrisis，developingcountriesinEastAsiahaveembarkedontheroadofrecovery．Thee－conomicgrowthrateofdevelopingcountriesinEastAsiawillbeover５％thisyearandthatofChinaistobeover７％．Bysharpcontrast，Japan＇seconomyhasremainedinstagnationfortwoyearsrunning．ThestagnationofJapan＇seconomyhasaffectedex－porttoJapanfromdevelopingcountriesinEastAsiaincl…     

China and the Middle East

The exchanges between China and the Middle East are profound. In 500 B. C, the world-famous Silk Road was built. In 700 B. C, there were two great empires on the Asian Continent. To the east was the once-prosperous Tang Dynas-     

A three bloc world? The new East Asian regionalism

East Asian governments have engaged in unprecedented collaborationon trade and financial matters since the economic crises of1997. For some observers, such activity, building on a new senseof shared identity forged by resentment at Western responsesto the crises, is a significant step towards the formation ofan East Asian economic bloc. In reality, the new collaborationhas produced only modest results. Neither an East Asian preferentialtrade agreement nor an Asian Monetary Fund is likely to materialize.Underlying power realities and fundamental economic interestsare unchanged. The new interest in negotiating preferentialtrade agreements (many of which are with countries outside ofEast Asia) is best explained by government perceptions of theeffectiveness of such arrangements elsewhere in the global economy,and by a desire to increase bargaining power.     

Symposium on East Asian Situation and Sino-ROK Cooperation in the New Era held in Beijing

Tocelebratethe１０thAnniversaryoftheestablishmentofdiplomaticrelationsbetweenChinaandROK，thedelegationofYOIDOSOCIETYFORNEWASIA，withformerpresidentKIMJaisonofthecongressoftheRepublicofKorea（ROK）astheheadandpresidentRHEESang－WoooftheSOCIETYasthedeputyhead，andCAFIUjointlyheldasymposiuminBeijingfromJune２５to２８．Mr．Buhe，MemberoftheCPCCentralCommitteeandVice－ChairmanoftheStandingCommitteeofthe９thNationalPeople＇sCongress，metwiththedelegation．Vice－Chairmano…     

Evolution of the Middle East Situation and Policy Adjustment by the Bush Administration

Since U.S. president Bush adopted the new Iraq plan on January 10,2007 for sending more troops to Iraq,the situation in Iraq has remained in a state of chaos. The Iraq issue continues to stand as a focal point of the Middle East crisis,     

Clashes and dialogues of civilizations revisited— the case of contemporary East Asia and Europe

This article sets out to inquire whether or not—political desiderata apart—genuine intercultural dialogue is feasible between Europe and East Asia, and if so, in which subject areas this could be done productively. It therefore examines the underlying value patterns which are grounded in religious traditions on both sides. It retraces the consequences which Communist rule had (and continues to have) on religious practice and ethnic identities of affected societies, and reviews the salient inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts which surfaced during the past quarter century on both continents. This is done in order to be able to qualify empirically Huntington’s theory on predominantly cultural clashes between civilizations. In conclusion we find a large measure of congruence between normative values of Christianity and Buddhism and between the secularized work ethics of Confucianism and of (Calvinist) Protestantism, so as to permit a meeting of minds. Conflicts were caused by the religious and ethnic suppression by Communist regimes (Soviet Union, China, N. Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia), by other authoritarian regimes (post Communist Serbia and Russia, Myanmar), and by nationalist: chauvinism. Conflicts between cultures (Bosnia, Nagorno Karabach, Abkhazia, Chechnya, Eastern Indonesia, East Timor, Pattani, Mindanao, Tibet, Xinjiang) occured as well as within them (Transnistria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Aceh). Huntington is thus frequently right, but not universally so. Moreover open conflicts on the two continents have rather been limited in extent and mostly took place in peripheral regions. Coexistence with Muslims is difficult both in Europe and in East Asia. But more often than not they appear as victims of aggression (Bosnia, Chechnya, Xinjiang, Pattani, the Cham) rather than as its perpetrators (Northern Cyprus, East Timor, Eastern Indonesia, and Al Quaida linked terrorism in the UK, Spain, Bali and Mindanao). In view of common values and similar problems, dialogue and cooperation should—and are—perfectly possible and potentially productive on a wide range of subjects, starting from conflict management and prevention, confidence building and reconciliation, to grand subjects of managing the consequences of globalization, of global security, of sharing experiences on regional integration, of lessons to be learned from development cooperation, on environmental protection and resource conservation, and on solving common demographic problems. Adapted lecture on “Dialogue of Cultures and Religions within and with East Asia” given at the Afro-Asian Institute, University of Graz (Austria) on 9.10.2007. Note that this article reflects only personal views.

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Japan's Policy for East Asian Economic Cooperation:New Changes and Prospects

Regional integration in East Asia has been accelerating thanks to the positive results achieved in the process of 10 3 regional cooperation in East Asia.But compared with the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade     

The rise of “diminished multilateralism”: East Asian and European forum shopping in global governance

The article argues that the “principled multilateralism” of the immediate post-Cold War period is increasingly giving way to what may be called a “diminished multilateralism.” Newly emerging global and regional powers such as the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other rising powers in the Global South are increasingly questioning the legitimacy of the existing international architecture which they regard as a vehicle of the USA and Western countries to conserve their international influence in an era of rapid change. In the process, international institutions have increasingly become arenas of power rivalries which take the form of contests over access and membership, decision-making rules and normative order. The result is an increasing paralysis of these institutions and their inability to solve global problems. One aspect of these institutional power struggles is “forum shopping.” The article shows that East Asia and Europe have both become active players in forum shopping. Three conditions facilitated forum shopping: major crises and external shocks; sentiments of frustrated entitlement in connection with exclusive and discriminatory international institutions, and extra- and intra-regional power shifts.     

Some Sidelights of the Northeast Asian Youth Forum

AttheinvitationoftheMoralRe-Armament/Ini-tiativesofChange-Korea(MRA/IC-Koreaforshort),IparticipatedintheNortheastAsianYouthForumheldinSeoulduringAugust19to24thisyear.Thethemeoftheforumwas″TheroleoftheyouthinrealizingpeaceandprosperityinNortheastAsia″,withanaimtostrengthentheregionalcoop-erationandpromotemutualunderstandingandfriendshipthroughdiscussionsandculturalex-changesamongtheyoungpeople.Morethan40younguniversitystudentsfromChina,JapanandRepublicofKoreawerepresentattheforum.Th…     

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Second New Century Sino-Japan Symposium on the Asian Situation and Peace

DistinguishedMr.Chairman,Ladiesandgentlemen,Dearfriends,OntheoccasionofthesecondnewcenturySino-JapansymposiumontheAsiansituationandpeace,IwouldliketoextendourwarmcongratulationsandoursincerethankstotheJapanesefriendsfortheirhospitality.Thesymposiumhasheld12sessionsbynow.ItcanlasttilltodayduetothecareoftheleadersofbothChineseandJapanesegovernmentsandparties,aswellasthestrongsupportbymanystatesmen,ex-pertsandscholarsfrombothsides.Ithasprovidedaplatformforthestatesmen,expertsandscholarstomak…     

Characteristics of the Current Political Situation in the Middle East

By comparison with the ＂Arab Spring＂ that swept through the whole ＇region in 2011 and the political transition evident in many Arab countries in 2012, political development in the Middle East in 2013, to many observers, seemed lost in chaos. Arab countries undergoing political change were plagued by disorder, volatility, and violence.     

Japan’s reluctance in East Asian economic integration

Until 1997, the only preferential trading arrangement, which existed in East Asia, was the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir had realized earlier the deficiency of AFTA in terms of stimulating economic development. In 1990, he proposed to ASEAN members to form the East Asian Economic Group. Due to regional political factors, his proposal was turned down and replaced with the East Asian Economic Caucus in 1992. In 1997, again, he proposed that ASEAN needed to establish large economic cooperation with other countries in East Asia. His suggestion had been warmly responded by the members of East Asian countries. At the ASEAN summit in Manila 1999, ASEAN Plus 3 (APT) was created. ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea had agreed and reached a joint statement to form a free-trade area by the year 2020. The establishment of APT was timely since most countries in the world are moving toward establishing wider or larger economic blocs due to the failure of multilateralism of the WTO in creating a new trade agreement. However, there is a shortcoming in the process of building APT, in the minimal and uncertain role of Japan in integrating economies in East Asia. This behavior has disappointed members of the group. The intention of this paper is to discuss the behavior of Japan in the economic integration process in East Asia.

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Analysis of the Current Situation in North Africa ＆ the Middle East

After the upsurge of domestic turmoil in Tunis last December,unrest spread rapidly through North Africa and the Middle East,having a profound effect on current international relations.It will continue to affect relations between the major powers and the international system as a whole for some time to come.The regional turmoil of North Africa and the Middle East is of particular interest to International Political Economy(IPE)studies.It seems to embody a geostrategic conflict between the US and the EU in contending for leadership in North Africa and the Middle East.It is also an expression of the competition for dominance of the global financial structure between the major powers during a period of transition in the international system.Lastly,it is a manifestation of America’s struggle to maintain its global economic hegemony.