Suchergebnisse

Although there are a couple of promising, often criss-crossing arrangements to provide for sound regionalism & qualitative multilateralism firmly in place in North & Southeast Asia, this has not yet entailed strongly institutionalized structures binding the political actors involved. This is not at least true for the perspective of an East Asian Security Community. Major reasons are -- apart from the Sino-Japanese competition for regional supremacy -- nationalism, ongoing reservations against sharing in or giving away state sovereignty and, closely attached, the imperatives of political power held by the different actors in the region. East Asia therefore needs a "benevolent hegemone" -- a role which currently can, however, only be played by the U.S. References. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on a book by Joshua Cooper Ramo, The Beijing Consensus (London: Foreign Policy Centre, 2004).

The rise of China is proven. But does China's new resources diplomacy challenge the USA, or even the whole Western world? This contribution argues that China suffers from systemic shortcomings, & is more a chaotic power than a world ordering one. This is shown through regional & general components of Chinese foreign policy, & stated by domestic reasons. References. Adapted from the source document.

China & the USA are strategic enemies. Nevertheless, China & the USA are economically interdependent. The American market absorbs a third of all Chinese exports & the USA remains the main source for Chinese foreign direct investments. The contradictions in these trends reflect continuous global uncertainty & the concept of 'soft containment' demonstrates a weak attempt to solving these contradictions. At the same time, an influential security-political faction within the Republican Party believes that the rise of the People's Republic of China to a superpower will inevitably lead to a conflict between China & the USA. This article analyzes this thesis based on Beijing's own prevailing interests. E. Sanchez

Washington's strategic rationale for a Northeast Asian Theater Missile Defense (TMD) system has been sound. Since the end of the Cold War, American bases & allies have increasingly come under the threat of Chinese & North Korean missiles. At the same time, joint TMD-development promised a reaffirmation of the US-Japan alliance that had been strained by both endemic trade conflicts & Tokyo's search for a new regional & international role. The problems with TMD are the result of politics interfering with this strategic rationale. First & foremost in this context has been Washington's incremental abandonment of its "strategic ambiguity" in the Taiwan Strait, a policy driven by mutually contradicting domestic developments on the island, in the People's Republic of China, & in the US itself. The present antiterrorist effort notwithstanding, the politicized TMD project is likely to stay & to continue straining great power relations in Northeast Asia. Adapted from the source document.