The world has undergone significant change since the end of the Cold War. One such development is that the Asia-Pacific has become increasingly prominent in international affairs. This comprehensive study provides a detailed understanding of key issues, actors and future trends in the region.

This book collects some of the most influential scholars in international relations who focus on Asia globally in exploring the challenges of diplomacy faced in Asia as US policy drastically changes. The president-elect has suggested policies which, if implemented, would radically transform the way that the region functions; what will this mean in practice? China's government is also retrenching nationalist positions; what is the future of China, and what does that mean for the region? A wide range of distinguished scholars, concerned about the future, have contributed their thoughts in an attempt to spark a global dialogue.

The world has undergone significant change since the end of the Cold War. One such development is that the Asia-Pacific has become increasingly prominent in international affairs. This comprehensive study provides a detailed understanding of key issues, actors and future trends in the region.

"Has uniformly good essays on economic and political change, the policies of the great and local powers, and the prospects for building a new regional order". -- Foreign Affairs

This collection of authoritative papers prepared by some of America's most eminent scholars in the field provides us with an up-to-date analysis of the complex and rapidly changing relations among China, Russia, Japan, and the countries of South and Southeast Asia. The contributors discuss in depth the major issues faced by the policymakers of each country, examining also the role of the U.S. in order to furnish greater perspective and a more realistic picture. Among the issues considered are Sino-Soviet relations, interdependence versus national assertiveness, economic interaction, and the effects of international conflict. The analyses of individual countries are supplemented by a broader view of actors and issues in regional and international contexts; equally important, the emphasis on contemporary aspects allows a look at current trends and the dynamics of future Asian international relations.

East Asia is normally identified as a group of countries lying along the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, but in recent years scholars have begun thinking about a new East Asia that is a community rather than a set of sovereign states. This regional community is a theoretical notion variously defined on the basis of economic or political relations, philosophical orientations, language or other criteria, with each standard producing a different set of boundaries. This book looks at the new East Asia from a Northeast Asian perspective, considering it both as a theoretical construct and a practical reality.The authors are Asian Studies specialists, mainly from Japan but with contributions from Korea and the United States, and they consider the trade and economic interaction, diplomacy, and security arrangements of East Asia. Prepared as part of a five-year research program conducted by Waseda University's 21st Century Center of Excellence for the Creation of Contemporary Asian Studies, the essays are published here in English for the first time