The Usa And The Rise Of East Asia Since 1945

'Incisive and insightful, analytic and synthetic, Jacques Hersh's excellent book is like a guide through the maze of modern times.' Stuart Holland, European University Institute, Florence. The book offers an interpretation of the international political economy focusing on the opportunities and constraints which the leading members of the capitalist system have to confront. Not disregarding the significance of the presently marginalised Third World, the underlying theme relates to the secular tendency of uneven development between major core nations. This trend accelerated during the era of US 'benevolent hegemony', resulting in the creation of surplus production capacity: a problem exacerbated by the growth of the NICs in East Asia.

A synthesis of existing literature and an interpretation of information on American foreign policy in East Asia since 1945, this work covers World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam war.

At the conclusion of World War II, Asia was hardly more than a geographic expression. Yet today we recognize Asia as a vibrant and assertive region, fully transformed from the vulnerable nation-states that emerged following the Second World War. The transformation was by no means an inevitable one, but the product of two key themes that have dominated Asia's international relations since 1945: the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to enlist the region's states as assets in the Cold War, and the struggle of nationalistic Asian leaders to develop the domestic support to maintain power and independence in a dangerous international context. Becoming Asia provides a comprehensive, systemic account of how these themes played out in Asian affairs during the postwar years, covering not only East Asia, but South and Central Asia as well. In addition to exploring the interplay between nationalism and Cold War bipolarity during the first postwar decades, authors Alice Lyman Miller and Richard Wich chart the rise of largely export-led economies that are increasingly making the region the global center of gravity, and document efforts in the ongoing search for regional integration. The book also traces the origins and evolution of deep-rooted issues that remain high on the international agenda, such as the Taiwan question, the division of Korea and the threat of nuclear proliferation, the Kashmir issue, and the nuclearized Indian-Pakistani conflict, and offers an account of the rise of China and its implications for regional and global security and prosperity. Primary documents excerpted throughout the text—such as leaders' talks and speeches, international agreements, secret policy assessments—enrich accounts of events, offering readers insight into policymakers' assumptions and perceptions at the time.

In a fast-moving and incisive narrative, Roger Buckley examines America s close and continuous relationship with the Asia-Pacific region from the end of the Pacific War to the first days of the Presidency of George W. Bush. The author traces the responses of the United States government to the major crises in the area through the Cold War decades and the initial post-Cold War years. He demonstrates how the US sought to maintain its dominant regional position through a series of security alliances and its own political, military and economic strengths. Professor Buckley examines the subject from geopolitical perspectives to provide a gateway to the understanding of a complex region certain to be of global importance in the twenty-first century.

In a strange way, the United States achieved its goal for the Vietnam War, but forgot why it was fighting. It was not fighting to keep South Vietnam from falling to the communists; it was fighting in Indochina to buy time for the other free nations of the region to develop economically and strengthen their respective relationships with their polities. In 1961, the region seemed weak economically. Japan was on the eve of its great expansion that turned it into the world’s second largest economy for many years; South Korea and Taiwan still depended on US economic assistance, and focused more on the perceived communist threat than improving the quality of life for their peoples. Thailand similarly watched the civil war in Laos; the Philippines needed to develop stability in government; and the Malay peoples moved from Malaya to Malaysia, to Malaysia and Singapore, all the while warily watching events in Indonesia. Trade and Security discusses how the US government sought to rally the region against the Communist threat, and in part opened the American economy to exploitation by its East Asian allies, and how those Allies used the Cold War and the perceived Chinese threat to gain greater access despite the consequent damage the American economy suffered. While US financial officials complained about the increasing damage to the domestic economy and to the worsening balance of trade and balance of payments deficits, diplomatic and military leaders remained fixated on the general superpower confrontation with the Soviet Union and the regional competition with the People’s Republic of China.

This brief book stresses the profound global transformation that has occurred since 1945 as a result of the collapse of the remaining great colonial empires, and the emergence of nation-states throughout the world. Its thematic emphasis makes clear as well the importance of the Cold War in influencing the process by which these nation-states sought to create new ideals and new institutions--to insure order and justice within their boundaries, and find places within the international community. The book also links the new nation-states in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, with the ethnic conflicts, local wars, and terrorist movements that became increasingly prevalent toward the end of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. For a world-historical perspective on contemporary civilization.