Books by Matteo Dian
Il Mulino, 2021
L'ascesa economica, politica e militare della Cina ha un impatto cruciale sulla politica internaz... more L'ascesa economica, politica e militare della Cina ha un impatto cruciale sulla politica internazionale contemporanea. Pechino promuove una visione propria dell'ordine internazionale, molto diversa da quella promossa dagli Stati Uniti e basata su concetti quali sovranità, autodeterminazione, un forte ruolo dello stato nell'economia, oltre che su una nuova centralità politica e strategica cinese in Asia. Ciò non implica necessariamente l'inizio di una nuova guerra fredda, quanto un processo complesso di rinegoziazione dell'ordine internazionale che riguarda diverse dimensioni: sicurezza, economia, ideologia e i rapporti con gli alleati. La competizione tra Washington e Pechino non è solo una sfida per il primato economico e militare: la capacità di promuovere soluzioni efficaci e legittime a problemi collettivi quali cooperazione economica, governance globale e regionale, e la riduzione della conflittualità internazionale sono centrali per il futuro ruolo delle due grandi potenze.
This book offers a theoretically informed study of recent Chinese initiatives to provide forms of... more This book offers a theoretically informed study of recent Chinese initiatives to provide forms of regional economic governance; or as it is often termed in Chinese discourses, regional “public goods”. It does so by considering the evolution of Chinese thinking on international relations and the global order, and by considering how the development of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the putative Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership reflect this change in thinking – and the change in both Chinese objectives and tactics.
Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy explores the relationship between the c... more Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy explores the relationship between the construction and the contestation of collective memories and the process of elaboration of foreign policy in the cases of China and Japan. The author looks at how different interpretations of national myths, glories, and traumas influence political leaders choices in foreign policy. The book presents an innovative theoretical framework to explain the relationship between collective memory and foreign policy, based on the interpretive approach, and rooted into concepts such as beliefs, traditions, dilemmas, and narratives. The Japanese case highlights how in the post war period the basic Japanese strategy, the Yoshida doctrine, rested on a compromise between conservative and progressive traditions, rooted on the shared idea of victimization. After the end of the Cold War this compromise unravelled. Conservatives aimed at turning Japan into a " normal nation " , with a less " self punitive vision of history ". Progressives, on the contrary wanted to build a more positive relations with the rest of Asia, building a shared discourse about the past. The Chinese case highlights an even deeper evolution in terms of collective memory. Mao promoted a " victor narrative " based on the class struggle against the Nationalist and the triumph of the Revolution. During the Reform era the Communist Party shaped a new narrative rooted on the memories of the century of humiliation and the historical necessity of the CPC, as saviour of the Chinese nation. More recently Beijing leaders also re-evaluated the role of the Confucian tradition, considered the origin of the Chinese weakness both by Mao and by earlier Chinese reformers. This book is directed to academics, students and practitioners interested to East Asia, Japanese and Chinese history and foreign policy as well as to role of identity and memory in international politics. The book analyzes how the construction and contestation of collective memories influences key foreign policy choices.
"The US-Japan alliance has contributed significantly towards the development of the Japanese secu... more "The US-Japan alliance has contributed significantly towards the development of the Japanese security strategy. The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance explores developments in the alliance between the US and Japan and analyzes the transformation of the Japanese security strategy from 1960 to 2013. It also describes the rise and the decline of Japanese pacifism and of the Yoshida Doctrine, the post war security strategy. Moreover, this book highlights how the end of the Cold War forced Japan to rethink his security strategy and post war pacifism. Japan has abandoned its identity of “peaceful nation”, turning itself into a “normal national”, drawing closer to the United States.
Today an increasingly “normal” Japan is no longer able to resist US pressure for a more active role in the alliance. Moreover, China’s military rise renders Tokyo ever more dependent on US forces. This process, often confused with a “new militarisation of Japan”, is rather the reflex of a growing sense of weakness and of a newfound perception of vulnerability and dependence on the American ally. The first two chapters introduce the alliances in theory and the US-Japan alliance in the 1960s. The subsequent three chapters cover the US-Japan alliance from the 1970s to the modern day, the American pivot to Asia and a conclusion. - "
Edited Books by Matteo Dian
Bringing together an international line up of contributors, this book examines South Korea’s fore... more Bringing together an international line up of contributors, this book examines South Korea’s foreign policy strategies designed to cope with the challenges of the post-Cold War regional order and the emergence of a "Korean paradox".
Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea’s foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea’s foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia.
An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea’s growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.
Marco Clementi, Matteo Dian, Barbara Pisciotta (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, 2017 (I... more Marco Clementi, Matteo Dian, Barbara Pisciotta (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, 2017 (ISBN: 978-3319541174).
This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored.
China’s extraordinary rise could represent a crucial challenge for the contemporary international... more China’s extraordinary rise could represent a crucial challenge for the contemporary international order. Will Chinese ascent underpin a more prosperous and stable East Asia, or will it usher in greater uncertainty, contentious territorial disputes with its neighbors, and big power competition and conflict? Will Beijing become a responsible power socialized to international norms and institutions? Or will it seek to unilaterally restore a Sinocentric system in East Asia? This book explores the nature and the consequences of the Chinese rise and analyzes how other great powers and the Asian middle powers have reacted to it.
Journal Articles by Matteo Dian
Italian Review of Political Science, 2022
This article sets the scene for the Special Issue 'Reaching for allies?' by setting out the resea... more This article sets the scene for the Special Issue 'Reaching for allies?' by setting out the research questions and structure of the Special Issue. Specifically, this introduction reviews the state of the art of dialectics interweaving International Relations and Area Studies. Specifically, it focuses on tracing the genealogy of these debates, identifying the actors engaged with them, as well as, mapping those sites where such transdisciplinary knowledge is produced and circulated. We also provide an assessment of the interaction between the two disciplinary traditions as scholarly disciplines by reviewing the field as it had developed in the last decade since 2013. In order to do so, we present data on the brokers of this dialogue by analysing top-ranked Journals across regions, dedicated Special Issues on the matter as well as main international conferences and participants. Overall, this article provides a threefold contribution: first, we provide an account of the globalization of knowledge production and circulation that has also increasingly decentred, valuing local peculiarities and epistemological traditions beyond the Western academia(s). Second, we assess and discuss how Western and non-Western academics have contoured concepts which demand and entail site-intensive techniques of enquiry, exposure to complexities on the grounds, ethnographic sensitivity, and, at the same time, comparative endeavours going beyond area specialisms. Third, by looking at international and regional policy-making milieus with attention to context-specificity, we believe critical policy-relevant implications can be discussed, specifically in relation to local ownership and bottom-up approaches.
Italian Review of Political Science, 2021
East Asia is increasingly at the centre of debates among International Relations (IR) scholars. C... more East Asia is increasingly at the centre of debates among International Relations (IR) scholars. China's political, economic, and military ascendency is increasingly considered as a crucial test case for main approaches to IR. Despite this renewed attention, mainstream theories employed to analyse contemporary Asia are still remarkably Euro-centric. A wave of studies has argued in favour of a broad 'decolonization' of theoretical concepts used to analyse East Asia as well as other regions. These efforts have produced several distinct research agendas. Firstly, critical and post-colonial theorists have worked on the par destruens, highlighting the inherent Euro-centrism of many IR concepts and theories. Secondly, scholars such as Buzan and Acharya have promoted the idea of Global IR, seeking to advance a 'non-Western' and non-Euro-centric research agenda. This agenda has found fertile ground especially in China, where several scholars have tried to promote a Chinese School of IR. This article has three main purposes. Firstly, it briefly explores the issue of Eurocentrism in IR studies dedicated to East Asia. Secondly, it maps the theoretical debates aimed at overcoming it, looking in particular at the 'Global IR' research programme and the so-called Chinese School. Finally, it sketches a few other possible avenues of research for a very much needed cooperation between Global IR and area studies.
Pacific Review, 2021
This article analyses wedge strategies in the context of Russo-Japanese relations. In particular,... more This article analyses wedge strategies in the context of Russo-Japanese relations. In particular, it looks at how both countries have sought to generate a dis-alignment in the opposing side, preventing further steps toward the consolidation of potentially threatening partnerships: the US-Japan alliance for Russia, and the Russia-China entente for Japan. After identifying the respective goals of Russia and Japan, the article examines the conditions that enable the success of wedge strategies. Looking at the case of Russia-Japan relations from 2012 to 2020, the article argues that a strategy constituted of a mix of positive economic and political incentives and a limited amount of coercion can succeed in producing a degree of dis-alignment in the opposing camp. Russia’s strategy seems to be more productive than Japan’s since Moscow has managed to minimize the effect of sanctions imposed by Japan and it has reduced political differences to mostly bilateral and regional issues. A greater level of cooperation with established partners for both Russia and Japan, and limited costs of wedging strategies, have resulted in dis-alignment but not a reversal of existing alignments. The article also indicates that in this case credibility issues do not fundamentally affect the degree of success of wedge strategies.
International Politics , 2020
This article explains Japan’s and South Korea’s role in the transition from the hub-and-spokes al... more This article explains Japan’s and South Korea’s role in the transition from the hub-and-spokes alliance system to a networked security architecture in East Asia. It is argued that China’s contestation of the rules-based international order in East Asia has been confronted by East Asian states through a mixture of resistance and accommodation. From a Japanese point of view, Beijing’s ascendency is considered particularly disruptive for the regional order. Consequently, Japan has become a central hub in the development of the networked security architecture enacting two complementary strategies: the consolidation of the alliance with the United States and the creation of new and less binding forms of bilateral, minilateral and multilateral security partnerships with Asian allies. By contrast, since Seoul considers China as an essential partner for the stabilisation of the Korean Peninsula, it has played a more peripheral role in the development of this regional networking dynamic.
International Politics, 2020
This Special Issue aims to explain the transition from the Cold War US-led system of exclusive bi... more This Special Issue aims to explain the transition from the Cold War US-led system of exclusive bilateral alliances in East Asia (or “hub-and-spokes” system) into a “networked security architecture”, i.e. a network of interwoven bilateral, minilateral and multilateral defence arrangements between the US and its regional allies and partners, and that also partly includes China. Drawing from the English School of International Relations, it challenges dominant Structural Realist explanations which interpret such development as a form of external balancing against a revisionist China. By contrast, this Special Issue submits that China’s selective contestation of the US-led hegemonic order in East Asia has sparked a renegotiation of such order among regional powers, which has resulted in the restructuring of the underlying alliances and defence partnerships into a networked security architecture. Specifically, regional powers have sought to broaden the composition of the US-led hegemonic order in East Asia—by diversifying the range of defence ties between US allies and partners, but also by seeking to include the PRC in it. Thereby, rather than merely balancing the People’s Republic of China, they have sought to channel the trajectory of China’s rise within this hegemonic order through a mixture of resistance and accommodation. This introductory paper develops the theoretical framework and central argument of the Special Issue.
Geopolitica, 2017
One Belt One Road (OBOR) is probably the most signifi cant of the
regional initiative... more One Belt One Road (OBOR) is probably the most signifi cant of the
regional initiatives promoted during the Xi era 2 . It envisions the creation of a new Silk Road linking China with Central Asia and Russia, up to Turkey and Eastern Europe, and a Maritime Silk Road linking the South of China with South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, up to the Mediterranean. The project foresees the strength ening of commercial links, as well as the construction of new infrastructures, such as high-speed transcontinental railways, and new ports.
With OBOR, China promotes a new paradigm for regional economic governance, aimed at advancing Chinese interests, norms and values. Th rough OBOR, China aims at proposing an alternative to current approaches to global and regional governance, largely rooted in norms and approaches originating in and promoted by the West.
Th is article will analyse the OBOR initiative from three main perspectives. Firstly, it will describe the narrative that helped the Chinese leadership to conceptualize and legitimize the One Belt One Road Initiative. In particular, it will describe how Beijing adopted several neo-Confucian and post-colonial ideas to legitimize the role of China as
“natural leader” of the Asian region, and to present its blueprint for regional governance as an element of stability and mutual cooperation, rather than as an attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the continent. In the second section, the article will describe which economic interests China aims to fulfil through this project. Firstly, OBOR aims to contribute to the development of Western provinces that were largely left behind by the export-led development of the last
decades. Secondly, it will favour the Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that receive the lion’s share of the infrastructural projects, and will be able to accelerate their “going global” strategy. Finally, OBOR represents the prosecution of the trend defined as “ad -
vancement of the state, retreat of the private” (guojin mintui), namely, the consolidation of the state control on strategic economic sectors.
In the final section, the article will discuss the possible political dilemmas generated by this initiative, including the likely contradiction between the expansion of the Chinese role and the maintenance of key foreign policy principles, such as non-interference and respect of other states’ sovereignty.
The International Spectator Italian Journal of International Affairs , 2018
he relationship between the Trump administration and the regime in Pyongyang has gone through two... more he relationship between the Trump administration and the regime in Pyongyang has gone through two distinct phases: a period of crisis and confrontation, roughly corresponding to the year 2017, and a period of diplomacy and détente in the first half of 2018, which culminated in the Singapore summit of June 2018. During both phases, Trump’s approach has been characterised by a high degree of unpredictability and the use of ‘mixed signals’. As a consequence, while the US achieved a significant objective in 2018, namely a reduction in tension and risk of conflict, this came at a considerable cost, especially in terms of the solidity of the US-led alliances in East Asia.
The Pivot towards the Asia Pacific has been a key component of the grand strategy of the Obama ad... more The Pivot towards the Asia Pacific has been a key component of the grand strategy of the Obama administration. Militarily, the main challenge is represented by the Chinese capacity to erode the American ‘command of the commons’. The United States have been developing a new operational concept, labelled ‘Air-Sea Battle’ (ASB) aimed at maintaining the capacity to project military power even if adversaries are able to deploy a sophisticated anti-access area denial strategy. The implementation of ASB is likely induce Beijing to respond with a further acceleration of the process ofmodernisation of its armed forces.
This article applies an interpretive approach to account for the process of definition and contes... more This article applies an interpretive approach to account for the process of definition and contestation over wartime memory in Japan. It first locates the role of memory in interpretive theory, emphasising how beliefs about the past are a crucial component of foreign policy traditions.
Second, it highlights how the process of contestation over a country’s memory is fundamentally intertwined with attempts to legitimise or resist key foreign policy decisions in response to
contemporaneous dilemmas that force a confrontation with historical traditions. This is illustrated through an analysis of the Yoshida Doctrine’s problematic compromise between conservative and progressive traditions of thought about Japan’s role in the Second World War, beginning with
the period of US Occupation, moving through the Cold War years and ending with the death of the Shōwa Emperor in 1989. Finally, it studies the ‘normalisation’ of Japanese foreign policy during the post-Cold War Heisei period, the dilemmas caused by the debate over wartime memory and the effort to achieve reconciliation with other Asian nations. The central argument is that post-war Japanese foreign policy has generally represented an uneasy and evolving compromise between the conservative and progressive traditions.
International relations (IR) theory has produced two main assessments of the effects of the rise ... more International relations (IR) theory has produced two main assessments of the effects of the rise of China. Realists have argued that it will generate a structural tension that will inevitably lead to increasing competition between China and the United States. Liberals have highlighted how China has been socialized to the contemporary rule-based international order. The paper argues that these two assessments of the Chinese rise either downplay the role of Chinese power, in the case of liberalism, or build their theorizations on an anachronistic and oversimplified conceptualization of Chinese power, as with structural realism. The article looks at Chinese structural power analyzing cases such as the progressive
internationalization of the renminbi and China’s recent attempts to build regional institutions in the economic and financial realm centred on its leadership. The
article describes how Beijing is increasingly capable of dictating terms of political and economic interaction to its partners.
The promotion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represented a
major component of the strateg... more The promotion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) represented a
major component of the strategy of rebalancing. Through the TPP, the Obama administration aimed at achieving several objectives: (1) ‘locking in’ an America friendly form of free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the Asia Pacific region; (2) reaffirming Washington’s capacity to shape the rules and norms of the international order; (3) keeping the region open to US influence and preventing China from creating a network of international institutions based on its leadership. The likely rejection of the agreement would
dramatically diminish the possibility of achieving those objectives, weakening the foundations of the US-led order in Asia.
Book Chapters by Matteo Dian
U.S. bases located in Italy have had a very signifi cant role in the U.S. post- war security strat... more U.S. bases located in Italy have had a very signifi cant role in the U.S. post- war security strategy. During the Cold War, the bases played a major role in the strategy of containment of the Soviet Union in Europe and in the Mediterranean region. In the post- Cold War period, their function considerably evolved, turning the country into a fundamental hub for power projection toward North Africa and the Middle East. This chapter analyzes the evolving role of the U.S. bases in Italy from three different perspectives: (1) their strategic purpose; (2) the degree of organized domestic resistance to their presence; (3) the legal framework regulating the use of the bases. The chapter is further divided into two sections, looking at the Cold War period and the post- Cold War period.
L’Asia orientale ha assunto un ruolo sempre più centrale per gli equilibri geopolitici globali. L... more L’Asia orientale ha assunto un ruolo sempre più centrale per gli equilibri geopolitici globali. La regione è caratterizzata contempora- neamente da una fase di lungo periodo di sviluppo e crescita economi- ca, trainati dall’apertura e la modernizzazione cinese e da una grande concentrazione di possibili rischi geopolitici, associati alla competi- zione per la sicurezza e l’influenza tra grandi potenze, al diffuso na- zionalismo, la proliferazione di armi di distruzione di massa (ad esem- pio il nucleare nordcoreano) e un’elevata quantità di dispute maritti- me e territoriali. L’evoluzione degli scenari geopolitici ed economici dell’Asia orientale è quindi fondamentale anche per l’unione europea e i suoi Stati membri, in quanto la regione presenta sia una serie di opportunità economiche molto significative, sia una serie di potenziali cause di instabilità. Questo capitolo mette a fuoco alcune delle variabili fondamentali che, con molta probabilità, avranno un impatto decisivo per gli equili- bri regionali nel prossimo decennio e oltre.
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Books by Matteo Dian
Today an increasingly “normal” Japan is no longer able to resist US pressure for a more active role in the alliance. Moreover, China’s military rise renders Tokyo ever more dependent on US forces. This process, often confused with a “new militarisation of Japan”, is rather the reflex of a growing sense of weakness and of a newfound perception of vulnerability and dependence on the American ally. The first two chapters introduce the alliances in theory and the US-Japan alliance in the 1960s. The subsequent three chapters cover the US-Japan alliance from the 1970s to the modern day, the American pivot to Asia and a conclusion. - "
Edited Books by Matteo Dian
Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea’s foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea’s foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia.
An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea’s growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.
This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored.
Journal Articles by Matteo Dian
regional initiatives promoted during the Xi era 2 . It envisions the creation of a new Silk Road linking China with Central Asia and Russia, up to Turkey and Eastern Europe, and a Maritime Silk Road linking the South of China with South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, up to the Mediterranean. The project foresees the strength ening of commercial links, as well as the construction of new infrastructures, such as high-speed transcontinental railways, and new ports.
With OBOR, China promotes a new paradigm for regional economic governance, aimed at advancing Chinese interests, norms and values. Th rough OBOR, China aims at proposing an alternative to current approaches to global and regional governance, largely rooted in norms and approaches originating in and promoted by the West.
Th is article will analyse the OBOR initiative from three main perspectives. Firstly, it will describe the narrative that helped the Chinese leadership to conceptualize and legitimize the One Belt One Road Initiative. In particular, it will describe how Beijing adopted several neo-Confucian and post-colonial ideas to legitimize the role of China as
“natural leader” of the Asian region, and to present its blueprint for regional governance as an element of stability and mutual cooperation, rather than as an attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the continent. In the second section, the article will describe which economic interests China aims to fulfil through this project. Firstly, OBOR aims to contribute to the development of Western provinces that were largely left behind by the export-led development of the last
decades. Secondly, it will favour the Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that receive the lion’s share of the infrastructural projects, and will be able to accelerate their “going global” strategy. Finally, OBOR represents the prosecution of the trend defined as “ad -
vancement of the state, retreat of the private” (guojin mintui), namely, the consolidation of the state control on strategic economic sectors.
In the final section, the article will discuss the possible political dilemmas generated by this initiative, including the likely contradiction between the expansion of the Chinese role and the maintenance of key foreign policy principles, such as non-interference and respect of other states’ sovereignty.
Second, it highlights how the process of contestation over a country’s memory is fundamentally intertwined with attempts to legitimise or resist key foreign policy decisions in response to
contemporaneous dilemmas that force a confrontation with historical traditions. This is illustrated through an analysis of the Yoshida Doctrine’s problematic compromise between conservative and progressive traditions of thought about Japan’s role in the Second World War, beginning with
the period of US Occupation, moving through the Cold War years and ending with the death of the Shōwa Emperor in 1989. Finally, it studies the ‘normalisation’ of Japanese foreign policy during the post-Cold War Heisei period, the dilemmas caused by the debate over wartime memory and the effort to achieve reconciliation with other Asian nations. The central argument is that post-war Japanese foreign policy has generally represented an uneasy and evolving compromise between the conservative and progressive traditions.
internationalization of the renminbi and China’s recent attempts to build regional institutions in the economic and financial realm centred on its leadership. The
article describes how Beijing is increasingly capable of dictating terms of political and economic interaction to its partners.
major component of the strategy of rebalancing. Through the TPP, the Obama administration aimed at achieving several objectives: (1) ‘locking in’ an America friendly form of free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the Asia Pacific region; (2) reaffirming Washington’s capacity to shape the rules and norms of the international order; (3) keeping the region open to US influence and preventing China from creating a network of international institutions based on its leadership. The likely rejection of the agreement would
dramatically diminish the possibility of achieving those objectives, weakening the foundations of the US-led order in Asia.
Book Chapters by Matteo Dian
Today an increasingly “normal” Japan is no longer able to resist US pressure for a more active role in the alliance. Moreover, China’s military rise renders Tokyo ever more dependent on US forces. This process, often confused with a “new militarisation of Japan”, is rather the reflex of a growing sense of weakness and of a newfound perception of vulnerability and dependence on the American ally. The first two chapters introduce the alliances in theory and the US-Japan alliance in the 1960s. The subsequent three chapters cover the US-Japan alliance from the 1970s to the modern day, the American pivot to Asia and a conclusion. - "
Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea’s foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea’s foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia.
An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea’s growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.
This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored.
regional initiatives promoted during the Xi era 2 . It envisions the creation of a new Silk Road linking China with Central Asia and Russia, up to Turkey and Eastern Europe, and a Maritime Silk Road linking the South of China with South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, up to the Mediterranean. The project foresees the strength ening of commercial links, as well as the construction of new infrastructures, such as high-speed transcontinental railways, and new ports.
With OBOR, China promotes a new paradigm for regional economic governance, aimed at advancing Chinese interests, norms and values. Th rough OBOR, China aims at proposing an alternative to current approaches to global and regional governance, largely rooted in norms and approaches originating in and promoted by the West.
Th is article will analyse the OBOR initiative from three main perspectives. Firstly, it will describe the narrative that helped the Chinese leadership to conceptualize and legitimize the One Belt One Road Initiative. In particular, it will describe how Beijing adopted several neo-Confucian and post-colonial ideas to legitimize the role of China as
“natural leader” of the Asian region, and to present its blueprint for regional governance as an element of stability and mutual cooperation, rather than as an attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the continent. In the second section, the article will describe which economic interests China aims to fulfil through this project. Firstly, OBOR aims to contribute to the development of Western provinces that were largely left behind by the export-led development of the last
decades. Secondly, it will favour the Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that receive the lion’s share of the infrastructural projects, and will be able to accelerate their “going global” strategy. Finally, OBOR represents the prosecution of the trend defined as “ad -
vancement of the state, retreat of the private” (guojin mintui), namely, the consolidation of the state control on strategic economic sectors.
In the final section, the article will discuss the possible political dilemmas generated by this initiative, including the likely contradiction between the expansion of the Chinese role and the maintenance of key foreign policy principles, such as non-interference and respect of other states’ sovereignty.
Second, it highlights how the process of contestation over a country’s memory is fundamentally intertwined with attempts to legitimise or resist key foreign policy decisions in response to
contemporaneous dilemmas that force a confrontation with historical traditions. This is illustrated through an analysis of the Yoshida Doctrine’s problematic compromise between conservative and progressive traditions of thought about Japan’s role in the Second World War, beginning with
the period of US Occupation, moving through the Cold War years and ending with the death of the Shōwa Emperor in 1989. Finally, it studies the ‘normalisation’ of Japanese foreign policy during the post-Cold War Heisei period, the dilemmas caused by the debate over wartime memory and the effort to achieve reconciliation with other Asian nations. The central argument is that post-war Japanese foreign policy has generally represented an uneasy and evolving compromise between the conservative and progressive traditions.
internationalization of the renminbi and China’s recent attempts to build regional institutions in the economic and financial realm centred on its leadership. The
article describes how Beijing is increasingly capable of dictating terms of political and economic interaction to its partners.
major component of the strategy of rebalancing. Through the TPP, the Obama administration aimed at achieving several objectives: (1) ‘locking in’ an America friendly form of free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the Asia Pacific region; (2) reaffirming Washington’s capacity to shape the rules and norms of the international order; (3) keeping the region open to US influence and preventing China from creating a network of international institutions based on its leadership. The likely rejection of the agreement would
dramatically diminish the possibility of achieving those objectives, weakening the foundations of the US-led order in Asia.
uncertainty regarding the US commitment to uphold and strengthen the current international rule-based order. This chapter states that the rise of populism that favoured the ascent of Trump has several fundamental consequences. Firstly, liberal internationalism and Wilsonianism, who constituted the basic ideational foundations for the US foreign policy narrative, appear to be rejected as the intellectual product of a distant cosmopolitan elite. Secondly, the Trump administration seems
to rely on Jacksonianism to look for alternative ideas to reinterpret the US role in the current international order. Finally, this led to the rise of a “ A-moral transactionalism ” , an approach that is likely to lead to put into doubt several key pillars of the US international engagement to obtain short-term economic gains.
rise of Sino-centric regional order, based on Chinese leadership and “ State capitalist ” practices. The Trans-Paci fi c Partnership (TTP) represented a key pillar of that strategy. The chapter concludes that a reversal of the strategy of rebalancing, particularly in the realm of regional economic governance, might lead to a progressive decline of the American in fl uence in the region.
rapporti bilaterali tra gli Stati Uniti e il Giappone, storicamente
il principale partner politico e strategico nell’area. Da un lato
contribuisce all’accelerazione dei trend che hanno caratterizza-
to l’evoluzione dell’alleanza dopo la ne del sistema bipolare,
inducendo Tokyo a ricoprire un ruolo sempre più attivo nella
fornitura di sicurezza e deterrenza nella zona. Dall’altro, il Pi-
vot contribuisce a modi care il potere contrattuale giapponese
nei rapporti bilaterali con Washington, erodendo la capacità di
resistere alle pressioni americane per una suddivisione più equa
dei compiti nell’alleanza.
Even if the purpose of the US bases has been someway similar, ‘base politics’ have had a very different impact on Italian and Japanese domestic and foreign policies.
In Japan, the opposition has been constant and intense, while in Italy US military presence was in essence welcome. In this chapter, I will highlight how dynamics related to local, domestic and international politics determined these different approaches to the presence of US military bases in Italy and Japan.
despite high levels of economic interdependence, remain constrained by an ongoing security dilemma and by the lack of reconciliation over ‘history issues.’ Moreover, China and Japan are starting to diverge also
on how to promote institutionalization in the realm of economic governance.
governo di Abe sia sul piano della sicurezza sia su quello economico.
Difficoltà aggravate da alcune scelte di politica estera di Trump
America's increasing strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific has been one of the distinctive features of the foreign and security policy of the Obama administration. This renewed attention has been determined by both the global power shift towards Asia, caused by the rapid economic development of Asian countries, and by the new challenges the region poses to American primacy and the present international order.
The relevance of this book resides in several factors. Firstly it presents a detailed and informed, yet accessible, exploration of the policy responses to the Japanese Great Stagnation. Secondly it helps locating the Abenomics, prime minister Abe’s economic blueprint, both within the Japanese political and economic debate and in the global marketplace of ideas. Thirdly, it presents a coherent argument in favour of the Abenomics and its economic rationale. This is particularly significant because
it entails also arguing against the current international academic and political consensus. Finally, it contributes to the field of ideational approaches to political economy. This is another important way in which the book aims at differentiating itself from the mainstream in its field.