Korea At The Center ― Dynamics Of Regionalism In Northeast Asia

Situated amongst the great powers of China, Japan, and Russia, and of great interest to the United States, Korea is treated by the contributors to this collection as central to understandings of Northeast Asian regional orders, understood as between, but connected to, nationalism and globalization. The editors (professors of history and sociology from Columbia and Princeton Universities) present 15 papers that explore Korea as it relates to regional orders of the past, present, and future. The essays begin with historical issues of the late 19th century, the colonial era, the Cold War, and the post Cold War era, examining such topics as Japanese plans for Korea in the regional order, foreign trade and Korea's regional integration, legacies of Japanese colonial infrastructure, and Korea's experiences with the shift from Japanese imperialism to American hegemony. Other essays consider the role that Korea can play in fostering a new cooperative regional order and touch upon such issues as inter-Korean relations, Korean-Chinese interdependence, Korea and environmental regime building, and transnational cultural flows in Northeast Asia. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)