Examining the prospects for building a regional community in Northeast Asia, this book considers the foreign policies of the individual states as well as the impact of domestic politics on the regionalist agenda. It outlines the emerging Northeast Asian community and the domestic requisites for its evolution and realization, and puts it in context by comparing the emerging community with Southeast Asia. The book investigates the attitudes of the key powers, including China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia and the US, towards the ideal of greater regional cooperation, with particular emphasis on the implications of domestic factors in each country for regional dynamics. It explores the North Korean nuclear crisis, the continuing tensions over the Taiwan Straits, the impact of Sino-Japanese rivalry, the shift in stance of South Korea towards North Korea since 2001 and its implications for its relationship with the US, and Putin’s attempts to strengthen Russian influence in the region. It concludes by identifying the foremost dangers that risk obstructing greater regional cooperation, particularly the China-Japan rivalry, nationalist sentiments, territorial disputes and energy competition.

Drawing on cutting-edge research from leading scholars, this book investigates state preferences for regime creation and assesses state capacity for executing these preferences in Northeast Asia’s energy domain, defined as the geographical area comprising the following countries: Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea. It examines questions pertaining to how states perceive the need and necessity for establishing a regime when it comes to the issue of energy and how much commitment they make to the effort in Northeast Asia. The book analyses the factors that shape each country’s fundamental energy interests in the region, how these interests impact their attitudes toward engaging the region on energy security and the way they carry out their regional engagement. Based on countries’ interests in promoting institutionalized regional energy cooperation and their capacity for forging that cooperation, the collection assesses each state’s role in contributing to an energy regime in Northeast Asia. It then concludes with a critique on the decade-plus quest for energy security cooperation in Northeast Asia and suggests ways forward for facilitating regional energy security cooperation. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of environmental policy, energy policy, security studies, Asian studies and international relations.

This book discusses the impact of China's rise on regional order at three levels: Sino-US relations, East Asia’s contested sub regions and regional institutions. Sino-US relations provide a framework to examine macro-regional relations. In East Asia’s contested sub regions-Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the eastern Indian Ocean region—the author explores the crucial role regional powers and local states play in maintaining effective governance and stability. The author shows how regional institutions attempt to develop cooperation and shared norms that work toward regional community. The inclusion of leading experts from China, the US, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, and India gives this collection a unique viewpoint, and reveals how China's rise looks from inside and outside China, as well as inside and outside the region.