Whither Japan? Changing Japan,changing Asia,changing the World

Jean‐Marie Bouissou. Japan: the Burden of Success, trans. Jonathan Derrick. London: Hurst and Company, in association with the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Paris, 2002. xx, 374 pp. US$19.95, paper.

Aurelia George Mulgan. Japan's Failed Revolution: Koizumi and the Politics of Economic Reform. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press at the Australian National University, 2002. ix, 260 pp. A$42.00 (incl. GST); US$36.00, paper.

Mitsuaki Okabe. Cross Shareholdings in Japan: a New Unified Perspective of the Economic System. Cheltenham and Northampton: Edward Elgar, 2002. xiii, 104 pp. £45.00/US$70.00, hardcover.

Peter Drysdale and Dong Dong Zhang (eds). Japan and China: rivalry or Cooperation in Asia? Canberra: Asia Pacific Press at the Australian National University, 2000. xi, 182 pp. A$ 25.00, paper.

Greg Austin and Stuart Harris. Japan and Greater China: political Economy and Military Power in the Asian Century. London: Hurst and Company, 2001. xv, 368 pp. £45.00, hardcover; £16.95, paper.     

Has the Cold War returned to East Asia?

The rise of a non-democratic China as the world ‘s second largest economy, still officially subscribing to Communism or ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ as its ideology1^?1 In Xi Jinping's first speech as the new Chinese leader, after assuming his position as Party Secretary at the 18^th Party Congress in November 2012, he declared that, “we will ensure that our Party will remain at the core of leadership in advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Xinhua report on 19 November 2012. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012cpc/2012-11/19/content_15939817.htm. By adopting the term “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” – zhongguo tese de shehui zhuyi, the Chinese Communist Party has argued that it has not abandoned socialism by introducing foreign capital and the opening up the Chinese economy to market forces. See for example a report on Deng Xiaoping's remarks to visiting Japanese delegation in 1984, “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” People's Daily, 30 June 1984. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/dengxp/vol3/text/c1220.html., has raised the spectre of the return of the Cold War to Asia with the United States and China on opposing sides, with China backed by Russia, its former Cold War ally. But to what extent are there historical parallels between the Cold War and the current East Asian international relations system?     

To Die on the Steppe: Sino-Soviet-American Relations and the Cold War in Chinese Central Asia, 1944–1952

Through a narrative retelling of a little known but incredible journey from Xinjiang to New York City made by a group of ethnic Russians in the mid-twentieth century, this article shows how some of the earliest and most poignant manifestations of the Cold War, including nuclear rivalry and espionage, were made evident in Chinese Central Asia. Wrapped up within an intense competition for resources, information, and influence between the United States, the Soviet Union, and two Chinese regimes, the Russians at the heart of this article reveal how the Cold War was a truly global conflict which was intimately experienced by ordinary peoples and often times in the places most far removed. This episode is furthermore a reminder that even if the Cold War did produce stability at the macro-level, the outcomes of the strategic rivalry and competition between the Soviet Union and the United States were violent and tragic, not necessarily or exclusively for these countries but especially for their allies and accomplices.     

Asia First?

This paper defends the traditional argument that sometime in the medieval/early modern era Europe took a historical path that set it decisively apart from other civilizations. The claim is not that medieval/early modern Europe was already more advanced than Asia in terms of overall economic performance, technological capability, and living standards. It is that from the twelfth century onwards Europe showed itself to be a great learner, in a cumulative, self-reinforcing process of assimilation, innovation, and invention. This modern trait gave Europe a unique developmental dynamic.