East Asian Transformation

This book describes the past, present and future of East Asian order, and analyzes how China, Japan, the U.S and ASEAN play important roles in the transformation of East Asian order, and discusses the new logic of regional order formation in the era of globalization and regional integration. The book analyzes China’s relationship with East Asian order, great powers and regional institutions involved, especially bilateral relations between China and Japan, China and the U.S., China and ASEAN, and explores how China could improve its regional strategy. Addressing a hot topic in world politics from the angle of regional order, and using methods such as historical analysis, comparative analysis, quantitative analysis and case study, this readable book enables readers to develop an understanding of the history and status quo of East Asia and China’s role in the region.

A Brookings Institution Press and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry (Japan) publication East Asian economic integration is on the rise. In the past decade, all of the region's powers have begun negotiating free trade agreements with their neighbors. They are also exploring broader regional options, such as the creation of an East Asian summit or free trade area. These developments have not always been welcomed by observers in other parts of the world. Some fear that they mark a turn away from integration into the global economy and herald the emergence of a closed, inward-looking bloc. In this timely and important book, Naoko Munakata offers an alternative perspective, based on her experience as an economic official and trade negotiator over the past 20 years. East Asian integration, she argues, is not driven by defensiveness or anti-Western sentiment. Instead, it reflects pragmatic calculations of economic interest, as well as a desire for mutual trust and a sense of community. Munakata makes her case by analyzing developments in the region since the mid-1980s, highlighting such important factors as the evolution of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the impact of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis, and the rise of China. She also outlines possible future scenarios for the region and offers policy prescriptions for building on regionalism's achievements to date. Over the coming decades, the rise of China, its relationship with Japan, and the institutional arrangements that bind those countries to the United States and the countries of East and Southeast Asia will become critical factors in the global balance of power. Transforming East Asia is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots of this transformation.

This book brings together benchmark essays in the field of global political economy, covering the key political-economic issues of East Asian development: the relation between the state and markets; the changing nature of economic governance and its relation to inequality; and the rise of China and its international consequences.