An important comparative study of Japanese politics that reveals that green issues have yet to displace the traditional urban politics of post-industrial Japan. This is unlike the rise of green parties and politics in Europe. Unlike Europe, it seems that political values in Japan are still informed by the conservative values of hierarchy and deference.

Most books exploring the political and socioeconomic landscape of modern Singapore focus on the role played by longtime Prime Minister and now Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. But by Lee's own admission, Singapore would not be what it is without his gifted and capable team of loyal lieutenants. These talented men were brought together in the most extraordinary of circumstances, and were no mere functionaries of Lee. Indeed, each was a leader in his own right but they were prepared to accept L...

This edited collection analyzes the innovative changes in Japan’s foreign policy. Pursuing new relationships with South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, Japanese initiatives include regional peace-building and human security activities, Asian multilateralism, and the Indo-Pacific concept. This collection focuses on these evolving international relationships through Japan’s unique approach to political change and continuity.

The conventional portrayal of Japan’s role in international affairs is of a passive political player which – despite its position as the world’s second largest economic power – punches below its weight on the world stage: its foreign policy driven by Washington, mercantilism and constrained by domestic pacifism. This book examines Japan’s emerging identity as an important participant in conflict prevention and peace-building in Southeast and South Asia, demonstrating that Japan has increas...

Japan faces significant challenges in both traditional and non-traditional areas of national security policy as the economic resurgence of China and the loss of US hegemonic clout significantly transform the strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. How is Japan coping with this new global and regional politico-security environment? What strategic moves has it taken to best position itself for the future to maximize its global and regional influence? More importantly, how is Japan pe...

This edited book reflects the 'yin-yang' of East Asia — the analogy of co-existing 'hot and cold' trends in that region. To concentrate only on geopolitical competition and regional 'hot spots' will exaggerate, if not misrepresent East Asia as a Hobbesian world. Nevertheless, geopolitical competition cannot be ignored because a failure of the balance of power and deterrence between China and the United States (and its allies) will destabilise the region. There are four 'vectors' in the geo...

This book examines the need for greater East Asian cooperation and the challenges to this grand endeavor. With differing national outlooks, how can East Asia preserve peace, prosperity and stability amidst geopolitical competition? To answer this question, the volume examines the political and economic relations between Beijing and its neighbors against the backdrop of two trends: the power shift from the West to the East in the aftermath of the American Financial Crisis and the ongoing eu...

This book presents a comprehensive overview of international attempts to engage North Korea diplomatically with the aim of avoiding a nuclear war.It highlights the difficulty of this task, concluding that the containment of North Korea currently depends more on military deterrence than on diplomatic restraint. It considers the various multilateral attempts at diplomatic engagement over recent decades and explores the different approaches of different countries, examining the domest...

The Singapore parliament's creation of an elected presidency in 1991 was the biggest constitutional and political change in Singapore's modern era. This multi-disciplinary study gathers papers from leading scholars in law, history, political science and economics to examine how political change is managed in Singapore. It is an authoritative addition to debates surrounding the management of political change in developing countries more generally.

The Fukuda Doctrine has been the official blueprint to Japan’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia since 1977. This book examines the Fukuda Doctrine in the context of Japan-Southeast Asia relations, and discusses the possibility of a non-realist approach in the imagining and conduct of international relations in East Asia.The collapse of 54 years of Liberal Democratic Party rule and the advent of a new Democratic Party of Japan raises the question of whether the Fukuda Doctrine ...

This book presents a comprehensive overview of the relations between the two Koreas and the different ASEAN states, including their relations with ASEAN as an organization. It outlines a complex picture with both bilateral and multilateral relations in play at the same time. It charts for each relationship how the present situation has arisen, discusses current difficulties and strains, and assesses how the relationship may develop in future.

This new collection examines the paradox of Sino-Japanese relations and the rising diplomatic antagonism between both countries despite deepening economic interdependency. Offering a unique perspective on the history of bilateral ties since diplomatic normalization in 1972, it considers the growing interdependency between China and Japan in bilateral trade, investment, tourism and education, as well as the question of nationalism and Sino-Japanese rivalry in multilateral settings such as i...