Introductory description

What makes the Pacific-Asia region tick? This module seeks to elucidate:
patterns and characteristics of the international politics of regionalism and regionalisation in Pacific-Asia;
dynamic processes that drive political relations amongst the principal state and non-state actors in Pacific-Asia, the issues generated as a result in the dimensions of politics, economics and security, and the ways in which these processes and issues have affected the evolution of the region; methods and conceptual tools in the study of IR, IPE, IS, GAD and Public Policy which can be utilised in order to understand the complexities of the politics of the region.
The module analyses the characteristics and patterns of international politics in Pacific-Asia by focussing on the central theme of the degree to which the region can be perceived to function as a coherent and integrated entity. The module investigates this theme though addressing questions of common and competing understandings of the location and division of the region in terms of geography, modes of political, economic and security interaction, ‘Asian identity’ and culture. In short, the module seeks to address the problem of ‘what’ exactly can be thought to have constituted the Pacific-Asia region in the past and in the contemporary era.
The module examines the dynamics of the international politics of Pacific-Asia with reference to three interconnected and cumulative processes which are approximately congruent with three overlapping historical periods—decolonisation, bipolarisation and globalisation. In turn, the examination of the political dynamics of the region in relation to these processes highlights a variety of key themes and issues in the international politics of Pacific-Asia and more generally for the study of the disciplines of IR and IPE. These include the imposition of Western norms of political and economic organisation within state-building projects and across the region; imperialism/colonialism; nationalism; regionalism; hegemony; security relations; and international political economy. Consequently, the module attempts to investigate not only ‘what’ constitutes the Pacific-Asia region, but the reasons for ‘why’ it is constituted in the way that it is.
The first dynamic process, decolonisation, refers not only to the eventual withdrawal of the colonial powers throughout the post-war period, but also to the creation of sovereign and nation states. This process, beginning in the Pacific War, is an ongoing one, which has been propelled and conditioned by the other two processes. The second, bipolarisation, is exemplified by the Cold War era—the establishment of two spheres of influence in the region by the great powers which shape both the international relations and the political economy of all regional states. The third, globalisation, has become quantitatively and qualitatively more important since the end of the Cold War. While there is no single model of capitalism in the region, globalisation is manifested in the increasing ideational dominance of neo-liberal economic paradigms in the region. Even in the communist party states of the region, the debate now is not how to resist capitalism, but (whether mistakenly or not) about how best to control and channel it for their state-building purposes.
In conjunction with analysing the key patterns and processes of the international politics of Pacific-Asia, the module considers also the utility of different conceptual and theoretical frameworks for the study of the region. The module applies and assesses theories from the generic disciplines of IR, IPE, Security Studies and Globalisation Studies, and more specific theories from regional and East Asian studies. It evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each; the question of whether the study of the international politics of the region has been built upon the imposition of western paradigms and modes of analysis; and the value of assimilating and synthesising a range of theories in order to gain a firmer grasp of the complexities of the region. In essence, therefore, this module also asks ‘how’ we should attempt to study the politics of the Pacific-Asia region and the ways in which this helps us to sharpen our understanding of the study of IR and IPE in general.
The seminars for this module are designed to address these major questions of the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the international politics of the region. The seminar series starts off by raising questions about the characteristics and current status of Pacific-Asia as a region. The seminars next establish the conceptual and historical frameworks that can be utilised for understanding contemporary regional affairs. Following on from this, the seminars examine the processes driving politics in Pacific-Asia from the period from the region’s first contact with the West through to the colonial, post-war, Cold War and contemporary periods. The seminars then go on to consider the principal state actors in the region asking: what are their objectives, and how have they gone about attaining them? Finally, the seminar series considers a number of major issues in the dimensions of politics, economics and security, and concludes with an assessment of the future shape and challenges for the region.
This module is available to students who are taking the MAs in International Politics and East Asia, International Political Economy, International Relations, International Security, International Politics and Europe, and Globalisation and Development. It is necessarily interdisciplinary and it should provide an opportunity for students to link the more theoretical material in other modules with the empirical experiences of international relations and regionalism in Pacific Asia.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Section A: Introducing themes and conceptual frameworks

1. Introduction and organisation: what is a region?
2. International Politics theory and the study of regions
3. Area Studies versus Disciplinary Studies
   Section B: Processes of regional formation
4. Chinese world order. Did Asia represent a different form of regional system?
5. Japanese colonialism. Leaving Asia and entering the West?
6. Reading Week—No Seminars
7. Decolonisation and the onset of the Cold War
8. Bipolarisation and Globalisation: Developmentalism, Regionalisation and the Plaza Accord
   Section C: Regional players
9. US in Asia. After Hegemony, or just normal hegemony?
10. China and international norms. Joining the international system or set to dominate it?
11. Japan and Pacific-Asia. Independent agent or agent of US power?
12. ASEAN. Collective action without a raison d’être?
    Section D: Regional problems and regional responses
13. The Korean Peninsula: Cold War time warp or postglobalisation phenomena?
14. Taiwan: crucible of conflict or interdependence?
15. Territorial disputes, energy security and non-traditional security issues
16. Reading Week—No Seminars
17. ASEAN Regional Forum and regional security frameworks
18. Economic integration, regionalisation and APEC
19. The political economy of the Asian financial crisis and regional monetary cooperation
    Section E: Conclusion
20. The future of Regionalism and regionalisation. Wars on Terror, ASEAN PLUS Three, East Asian Community or new bilateralism?

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• To understand how the domestic and international levels of activity interact and impact on each other in the international politics of the Pacific Asia region
• To be familiar with a wide range of contemporary literature concerned with the study of the international politics of Pacific-Asia, and the applicability of general theories of IR and IPE to this regional case
• To examine the implications of the case of the international politics of Pacific-Asia for our wider understanding of the global international system and IR and IPE
• To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various perspectives and arguments presented in the key debates surrounding the international politics of Pacific-Asia
• To enable students to analyse critically complex ideas, both orally and in writing, in relations to the issues influencing the international politics of Pacific-Asia
• To encourage students to develop the ability to work both independently and as part of group
• To allow students to develop sophisticated library and IT-based research skills through the study of a region about which information is not always readily available

Indicative reading list

Reading List
(http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/currentstudents/masters/pgmodules/po920/reading) The full reading list is available to save in a printable format by clicking the Pages To Go button in the bottom right corner.
The reading for this module consists of background reading, core reading and supplementary reading. The module also requires students to make use of key documents and internet resources, as well as encouraging them to search for their own additional sources in the Warwick library and elsewhere.
ALL STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO READ THE CORE READINGS EACH WEEK.
THERE CAN BE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT OBTAINING AND READING THE CORE READINGS EACH WEEK AS THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN THE SRC AND NEARLY EVERYTHING IS AVAILABLE ON-LINE!
The core and supplementary reading for each seminar is outlined in the seminar programme.
Subject to legal and operational requirements, copies of all core readings are available either in the Library Short Loan Collection (SLC), Learning Grid or online. If a core reading is not available in this manner, you should consult the Subject Librarian and your module tutor.
This section provides information on background readings and access to certain online resources. Background reading
The following texts, in combination, should provide you with the essential background knowledge that you will need to complement your weekly reading requirements for each seminar.
Acharya, Amitav, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia, London, Routledge, 2000.
Acharya, Amitav (2009) Whose Ideas Matter? Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Aggarwal, Vinod K. and Min Gyo Koo (eds.) Asia‟s New Institutional Architecture: Evolving Structures for Managing Trade, Financial, and Security Relations, Verlag, Springer, 2008.
Beeson, Mark (ed.) Contemporary Southeast Asia: Regional Dynamics, National Differences, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Beeson, Mark (ed.) Contemporary Southeast Asia: Regional Dynamics, National Differences, Second Edition, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Beeson, Mark, Regionalism and Globalization in East Asia: Politics, Security and Economic Development, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2007.
Muthiah Alagappa (ed.), Asian Security and Practice: Material and Ideational Influences, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1998.
Kent E. Calder and Francis Fukuyama (eds.) East Asian Multilateralism: Prospects for Regional Stability, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
Camilleri, Joseph, States, Markets and Civil Society in Asia-Pacific Volume I, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2000.
Camilleri, Joseph, Regionalism in The New Asia-Pacific Order: The Political Economy of the AsiaPacific Region, Volume II, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2003.
Connors, Micheal K., Davison, Remy and Dosch, Jorn, The New Global Politics of the AsiaPacific, London, Routledge, 2004 Cumings, Bruce, Parallax Visions: Making Sense of American-East Asian Relations at the End of the Century, Durham and London, Duke University Press, 1999.
Dent, Christopher M., East Asian Regionalism, London, Routledge, 2008.
Dieter, Heribert (ed.) The Evolution of Regionalism in Asia: Economic and Security Issues, London, Routledge, 2008.
Emmott, Bill, Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade, London, Allen Lane, 2008.
Fairbank, John King and Reischauer, Ediwn O., East Asia: Tradition & Transformation, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.
Frost, Ellen L., Asia‟s New Regionalism, Boulder, Colorado, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008.
Godement, François, The New Asian Renaissance: From Colonialism To The Post-Cold War, London, Routledge, 1997.
Michael J. Green and Bates Gill (eds.) Asia‟s New Multilateralism: Cooperation, Competition, and the Search for Community, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
Hook, Glenn, Gilson, Julie, Hughes, Christopher W. and Dobson, Hugo, Japan‟s International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security, 2nd edition, London, Routledge, 2005.
Hughes, Christopher W., Japan‟s Security Agenda: Military, Economic and Environmental Dimensions, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, 2004.
Hughes, Christopher W., Japan‟s Reemergence as a „Normal‟ Military Power, Adelphi Paper 368/9, Oxford, Oxford University Press/IISS, 2004.
Hughes, Christopher W., Japan‟s Remilitarisation, Routledge/IISS, London, 2009.
Ikenberry, John G. and Mastanduno, Michael, International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific, New York, Columbia University Press, 2003.
Katzenstein, Peter and Takashi Shiraishi (eds.), Network Power: Japan and Asia, Ithaca: Cornell, Cornell University Press, 1996.
Katzenstein, Peter and Takashi Shiraishi (eds.), Beyond Japan: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism, Cornell, Cornell University Press, 2006.
Kim, Samuel S., The International Relations of Northeast Asia, New York, Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.
Lincoln, Edward J., East Asian Economic Regionalism, Washington DC, Brookings Institution Press, 2004.
McDougall, Derek, Asia-Pacific in World Politics, Boulder, Colorado, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008.
Munakata, Naoko, Transforming East Asia: The Evolution of Regional Economic Integration, Washington DC, Brookings Institutions, 2006.
Overholt, William H., Asia, America and the Transformation of Geopolitics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Pempel, T. J. (ed.) Remapping East Asia: The Construction of a Region, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2004.
Rodan, Gary, Hewison, Kevin and Robison, Richard (eds.), The Political Economy of South-East Asia: an Introduction, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Rozman, Gilbert, Northeast Asia's Stunted Regionalism: Bilateral Distrust in the Shadow of Globalization, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Shambaugh, David and Yahuda, Michael (eds.) International Relations of Asia, New York, Rowman and Littlefield, 2008.
Tow, William T. (ed.) Security Politics in the Asia-Pacific: A Regional-Global Nexus?, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Weatherbee, Donald E., International Relations in Southeast Asia, New York, Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Yahuda, Michael, The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific, Since 1945, London: Routledge, 2004.
Yoshimatsu, Hidetaka, The Political Economy of Regionalism in East Asia: Integrative Explanation for Dynamics and Challenges, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2008.
Zhang, Yongjin, China in International Society Since 1949, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1998. Online articles
Many of the articles in this reading list are available on-line. Where a full address is given, simply go to that page. Please tell me if you find a dead or non-responding link.
The online data bases such as JSTOR, Taylor and Francis Journals, Project Muse provide access to dozens of Asian Studies and international politics journals.
You can access the link here at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/electronicresources/journals
It is important to acquaint yourself with these journals and magazines. In addition to the specific reading that will be indicated for each session, you should check these for:
book reviews of interest and relevance;
new editions that are produced during the course of the year;
reading for your essays and dissertations Here is a list, although not exhaustive, of some of the key journals relating to the study of East Asia and the Asia-Pacific American Political Science Review
Asian Survey
Critical Asian Studies/Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars
The China Quarterly
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
International Affairs
International Organization
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
International Security
Japanese Studies
Journal of Japanese Studies
New Political Economy
Orbis
Pacific Affairs
The Pacific Review
Third World Quarterly
Security Dialogue
Survival
Review of International Political Economy
Review of International Studies
The World Economy
World Politics
USING THESE RESOURCES YOU HAVE ACCESS TO LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF ARTICLES FOR EACH WEEK’S TOPICS AND FOR YOUR RESEARCH ESSAYS. PLEASE MAKE GOOD USE OF THEM! Useful web sites
General information, useful links, country profiles, bibliographical information
It is worthwhile spending some time getting to know these important sites of information and discussion. This is just the briefest of introductions—there are many, many more sites you might find. If you come across anything particularly useful, please let me know by email, and I will distribute it to the rest of the group. Also some of the links might go out of date, so you can always search for them on Google/Yahoo etc.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (an excellent source of country, regional and historical maps. Includes a rolling section on maps in the news) http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html
Focus on the Global South (a largely „anti-globalisation‟ site with a focus on East Asia) http://www.focusweb.org/
Economist Intelligence Unit Country Profiles (useful country profiles, fact sheets, basic statistics and short articles) http://www.economist.com/countries/
Southeast Asian Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong (links to individual country pages, Asia Studies centres, and media resources) http://www.cityu.edu.hk/searc/#Related
Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library (the gateway to thousanhttp://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html
The CIA World Factbook (country profiles, statistics and maps) http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
The Asian Development Bank (latest news, development reports, country reports and economic statistics) http://www.adb.org/
Asian Crisis Web-page (basic readings, chronologies, information etc.) http://www.stern.nyu.edu/globalmacro/ ASEAN
Association of Southeast Asian Nations: http://www.aseansec.org/
South East Asian Studies Site (mainly language and culture of individual states, but good links to other sites) http://www.seasite.niu.edu/ Japan For additional information about Japan (including documents and chronologies) and for a listing of hundreds of Japan-related web sites, see Appendix 0.1 of Hook, Gilson, Hughes and Dobson, Japan’s International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security (full bibliographical details in this reading list).
Japan Policy Research Institute (arch-revisionist Chalmers Johnson’s research institute web-site, packed with current and controversial policy reports, but handle with care!) http://www.jpri.org/
China China On-line (news sources, articles, info on leaders and institutions and lots and lots of links) http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html
China Data Centre at the University of Michigan (does exactly what it says on the tin!) http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/chinadata/index.html
China Project at Royal Institute of International Affairs (useful weblinks on China‟s economy) http://www.riia.org/index.php?id=275
Chinese Foreign Policy Net (links to basic information on all areas of Chinese foreign policy) http://www.stanford.edu/~fravel/chinafp/toc.htm
Chinese military power home-page (links to data, articles, opinions on the state of the Chinese military) http://www.comw.org/cmp/
China News Digest (daily news on China with an email daily summary and weekly digest) http://www.cnd.org
Korean Peninsula
Korean Web Weekly (good links to hot news items, media, and report on Korean Peninsula) http://www.kimsoft.com/ USA US Department of Defence (good for Pentagon reports on military strategy in Pacific-Asia) http://www.defenselink.mil/
US Department of State http://www.state.gov/
Pacific-Asia security issues
Council for Security Co-operation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP): http://www.cscap.org/
ASEAN Regional Forum: http://www.dfat.gov.au/arf/index.html
IPE Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (large number of downloadable working and conference papers related to Pacific-Asia): http://www.csgr.org
International Political Economic Network: http://csf.colorado.edu/ipe/
Institute for International Economics (discussion papers and also some downloadable and free books and reports in PDF format): http://www.iie.com/
International and Asia-Pacific organisations
Asian Development Bank (ADB): http://www.adb.org
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): http://www.apecsec.org.sg/
Australian APEC Study Centrehttp://www.apec.org.au/
World Bank Group (including World Bank and IMF) http://www.worldbank.org/
United Nations Development Programme for the Asia Pacific http://www.undp.org/rbap/
South China Sea
Asian Studies virtual WWW Library http://www.middlebury.edu/SouthChinaSea/ Asia-related research institutes
Council on Foreign Relations (independent task force reports and publications on East Asia) http://www.cfr.org/
CSIS Pacific Forum Comparative Connections (electronic journal of bilateral relations in PacificAsia): http://www.csis.org/pacfor/ccejournal.html
The International Institute for Strategic Studies http://www.iiss.org/scripts/index.asp
Nautilus Institute (peace, security and energy issues in Asia-Pacific, and an excellent email bulletin service): http://www.nautilus.org/
National Bureau of Asian Research (downloadable publications): http://www.nbr.org/
RAND (downloadable reports on Asia-Pacific): http://www.rand.org/
Stanford University Asia-Pacific Research Center (downloadable reports by leading scholars on the region) http://aparc.stanford.edu/

Subject specific skills

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Transferable skills

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