Four hundred years ago, indigenous peoples occupied the vast region that today encompasses Korea, Manchuria, the Mongolian Plateau, and Eastern Siberia. Over time, these populations struggled to maintain autonomy as Russia, China, and Japan sought hegemony over the region. Especially from the turn of the twentieth century onward, indigenous peoples pursued self-determination in a number of ways, and new states, many of them now largely forgotten, rose and fell as great power imperialism, indigenous nationalism, and modern ideologies competed for dominance. This atlas tracks the political configuration of Northeast Asia in ten-year segments from 1590 to 1890, in five-year segments from 1890 to 1960, and in ten-year segments from 1960 to 2010, delineating the distinct history and importance of the region. The text follows the rise and fall of the Qing dynasty in China, founded by the semi-nomadic Manchus; the Russian colonization of Siberia; the growth of Japanese influence; the movements of peoples, armies, and borders; and political, social, and economic developments—reflecting the turbulence of the land that was once the world's "cradle of conflict." Compiled from detailed research in English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Mongolian, and Russian sources, the Historical Atlas of Northeast Asia incorporates information made public with the fall of the Soviet Union and includes fifty-five specially drawn maps, as well as twenty historical maps contrasting local and outsider perspectives. Four introductory maps survey the region's diverse topography, climate, vegetation, and ethnicity.

Sustainable Peace in Northeast Asia examines the causes of lasting and complex tensions in the region from underlying political, historical, military and economic perspectives; discusses their historical development and political-economic implications for the world; and explores possible solutions to build lasting peace. The book is unique in that it approaches the topic from the historical perspective of each constituent country in the region. Major global powers such as the United States and Russia have also closely engaged in the political and economic affairs of this region through a network of alliances, diplomacy, trade and investment. The book also discusses the influence of these external powers over the crisis, their political and economic objectives in the region, their strategies and the dynamics that their engagement has created. Both South Korea and North Korea have sought reunification of the Korean peninsula, which will have a substantial impact on the region. The book examines its justification, feasibility and effects for the region. The book discusses the role of Mongolia in the context of the power dynamics in Northeast Asia. A relatively small country, in terms of its population, Mongolia has rarely been examined in this context; Sustainable Peace in Northeast Asia makes a fresh assessment of its potential role.

This book assesses Mongolia's position in the security calculus of Northeast Asia and presents the policy outlooks of major powers vis-a-vis the region, including the United States, Japan, China, Russia and India. Ground-breaking and modernistic in its approach, the book treats the often marginalised and landlocked small power state of Mongolia as a critical regional actor, particularly with regards to managing ties with encircling major powers Russia and China and assist in engaging the nuclear state of North Korea through dialogue mechanisms. Through a compilation of chapters by distinguished scholars, the volume explores Mongolia in the Northeast Asian geographical space within the context of three major themes: nuclear proliferation, environmental security, and socio-economic and civilisational conflicts. The book provides a multidisciplinary and multinational approach to Mongolia's role in the region's strategic landscape. It moves the regional security discussion beyond major power politics, North Korea's denuclearisation and the impasse on the Korean Peninsula to discuss and analyse other underappreciated challenges facing the region. Considering Mongolia's role in achieving peace and stability in the neighbourhood, the book will be a valuable resource for researchers and readers in International Relations, Political Science and Asian Studies.

Four themes dominate this study of the late Mongol empire in Northeast Asia: the need for an all-inclusive regional perspective; pan-Asian integration under the Mongols; the tendency for individual and family interests to trump those of dynasty, country, or linguistic affiliation; and the need to see Koryŏ Korea as part of the wider Mongol empire.

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.

International migration and other types of cross-border movement of people are becoming an important part of international relations in Northeast Asia. In this particular study, experts on China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Russia examine the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the interaction between border-crossing individuals and host communities, highlighting the challenges that face national and local leaders in each country and suggesting needed changes in national and international policies. The authors analyze population trends and migration patterns in each country: Chinese migration to the Russian Far East, Chinese, Koreans, and Russians in Japan, North Koreans in China, and migration issues in South Korea and Mongolia. The book introduces a wealth of empirical material and insight to both international migration studies and Northeast Asian area studies.

Mark E. Byington explores the formation, history, and legacy of the ancient state of Puyŏ, which existed in central Manchuria from the third century BCE until the late fifth century CE. As the earliest archaeologically attested state to arise in northeastern Asia, Puyŏ occupies an important place in the history of that region. Nevertheless, until now its history and culture have been rarely touched upon in scholarly works in any language. The present volume, utilizing recently discovered archaeological materials from Northeast China as well as a wide variety of historical records, explores the social and political processes associated with the formation and development of the Puyŏ state, and discusses how the historical legacy of Puyŏ—its historical memory—contributed to modes of statecraft of later northeast Asian states and provided a basis for a developing historiographical tradition on the Korean peninsula. Byington focuses on two major aspects of state formation: as a social process leading to the formation of a state-level polity called Puyŏ, and as a political process associated with a variety of devices intended to assure the stability and perpetuation of the inegalitarian social structures of several early states in the Korea–Manchuria region.