Late Submissions

Late Submission Penalty: “Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.”

Many scholars speculate that the American Century that Henry Luce proclaimed in 1941 is being displaced by an Asian Century. The explosive growth of capitalist economies in Asia has shifted the center of gravity in the global political economy, which poses many challenges for US hegemony and foreign policy in Asia. This unit explores the nature of these challenges, and examines the past, present and possible futures of US foreign policy in Asia, with a particular focus of US-China rivalry. In so doing, we pay particular attention to the shifting contours of US foreign policy under President Trump, and what it might mean for the United State's position in Asia.

Week 1 (2 August) Introduction: The United States and East Asia in the Age of Trump

In this first week, an overview of the unit will be provided, followed by an introductory lecture that identifies the significance of the Trump Presidency for US foreign policy in East Asia, and the key issues that the United States faces in East Asia today. These include economic challenges entailed by increased integration and competition in the region, and security challenges posed by the rise of China, North Korean nuclear proliferation, and juggling the competing claims of various bilateral relationships and alliances. We will also explore in a preliminary way some of the issues raised by President Trump's recent posturing in the region, and his shifting of US trade policy onto a more protectionist footing

Reading

Lowell Dittmer, 'Trump on China', Asian Perspectives 41 (2017), pp. 673-700.

Jennifer Lind, 'Asia's other Revisionist Power: Why U.S. Grand Strategy Unnerves China', Foreign Affairs, 96 (2017), pp. 74-82.

Peter Harris, 'The Imminent US Strategic Adjustment to China', The Chinese Journal of International Politics Vol. 8, No 3 (2015) pp. 219-250

Week 2 (9 August) Hiroshima and the Shaping of US Hegemony in East Asia

In the first of several historically focused lectures, we explore the roots of US power in East Asia. We start with the US's nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which represented both the end of an era and the beginning of a new one: the era of US hegemony in the Asia-Pacific and the so-called "free world". We explore the foundations and nature of US hegemony, and the ways in which the early years of the Cold War shaped US priorities and actions in East Asia.  

Reading

Michael H. Hunt, 'East Asia in Henry Luce's "American Century"' in Michael J. Hogan, The Ambiguous Legacy: US Foreign Relations in the American Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 232-278.

Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to use the Atomic Bomb (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), pp. 319-365. 

J. Samuel Walker, 'Recent Literature on Truman's Atomic Bomb Decision: A Search for Middle Ground', Diplomatic History, Vol 29, 2 (2005) pp. 311-334.

Week 3 (16 August) Challenges to US Hegemony; The Chinese Revolution and the Korean Civil War

To say that the US was hegemonic in East Asia in the years immediately following the conclusion of the Second World War, is not the same as saying that its supremacy was unchallenged. The two greatest challenges to US hegemony in these years were the Chinese Revolution in October 1949 and the Korean War (1950-1953). These events would shape US perceptions of and activities in East Asia for decades to come, and their effects continue to be felt right up to the present day. This week we explore the causes and consequences of these events and discuss the US's involvement.

Reading

Chen Jian, 'Mao and Sino-American Relations' in Melvyn P. Leffler and David S. Painter, The Origins of the Cold War: An International History (2nd edn.) (New York: Routledge 1994), pp. 283-298. 

Warren I. Cohen, 'The Korean War and its Consequences', in Warren I. Cohen, The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations (Vol. V): America in the Age of Soviet Power, 1945-1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 58-80. 

Week 4 (23 August) The Vietnam War and US Credibility in East Asia

As part of the general policy of containment, the US supported first French colonialists, then a brutal, dictatorial regime, in what became South Vietnam. Their military involvement intensified over time, to the point where they deployed combat troops in March 1965. The ensuing Vietnam War was fought on the rationale of the domino theory (if South Vietnam fell to Communists then neighboring states would surely follow) and the need to maintain US credibility - in the eyes of both allies (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia etc) and enemies (China, North Korea, the USSR). In this lecture we examine the Vietnam war in the broader context of US diplomacy and efforts to preserve hegemony in East Asia.  

Readings

Robert Dallek, 'Fear, Ambition, and Politics' in Robert J. McMahon (ed), Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War (3rd edn.) (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003), pp. 177-189.

Fredrick Logevall, 'Choosing War' in Robert J. McMahon (ed), Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War (3rd edn.) (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003), pp. 189-205.

Week 5 (30 August) Detente and Normalizing Relations with China

Increasingly exhausted and economically weakened by the Vietnam war, the US sought detente (a relaxation of tensions) with both the USSR and China from the late 1960s. This expressed itself in a normalization of relations with China after 1972, which would grow into a flourishing economic relationship by the early 1990s, though not without tensions and crises along the way. This week we explore the evolving relationship that the United States developed with China in the 1970s and 1980s, and discuss how this effected China's immediate neighbors. This is important as it laid the foundations for the US's relationship with China today, which includes many tensions and contradictions that are at the heart of the unfolding economic and security challenges that the US faces in the region. 

Reading

Raymond L. Gartoff, 'Establishing Triangular Diplomacy: China and American-Soviet Relations, 1969-1972', in Raymond Gartoff, Detente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan (1994), pp. 227-278.

Week 6 (6 September) End of the Cold War: Promises and Challenges

More than one US statesman has commented that US foreign policy was easy during the Cold War because we knew who our enemy was. Consequently, the end of the Cold War created uncertainty about how the United States should exercise its power on the world stage in general, and East Asia in particular. We identify and examine some key episodes in the decade after the end of the Cold War (e.g., the Taiwan crisis of 1995, the forced landing of a US spy plane on Chinese territory in 2001, North Korea's nuclear ambitions throughout this period), in order to illustrate the challenges that the US faced in East Asia after the end of the Cold War. 

Reading

Richard Betts, 'Wealth, Power, and Instability: East Asia and the United States after the Cold War', International Security, Vol. 18, 3 (1993-94), pp. 34-77.

Michale Mastanduno, 'Preserving the Unipolar Moment: Realist Theories and US Grand Strategy after the Cold War', International Security, Vol 21, 4 (1997), pp. 49-88.

Week 7 (13 September) Essay Writing Workshop

Clarity of writing expresses clarity of thinking, while clarity of thinking is manifested in clear writing. With this in mind, we will use this week to discuss what a good University Masters essay should accomplish and what it should include. I will begin by giving a presentation, which will be followed by a practical exercise and then a discussion. We will end by briefly considering each of the essay topics that will be on the ilearn site from week two. 

No Reading for the week   

Week 8 (4 October) The US and the Japanese Alliance

The United States has had a permanent military presence in Japan since 1945, and continues to do so despite the ostensible rationale for its presence having long since ended. The US's alliance with Japan, and its military bases on Japanese soil, constitute the bedrock of US hegemony and strategy in East Asia. It has taken on renewed importance with the growing influence of China in the region, though the Trump administration has created some uncertainty around the relationship. In this lecture we examine the nature and relevance of the US-Japan alliance, and analyze its role in the contemporary era. 

Reading

Linus Hagstrom, '''Power Shift' in East Asia? A Critical Reappraisal of Narratives on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Incident in 2010' The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 10 (2012) pp. 267-297.

Christopher W. Hughes, 'Japan's 'Resentful Realism' and Balancing China's Rise', The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 9, No 2 (2016), pp. 111.

Week 9 (11 October) The US and the Korea Peninsular

As we saw in week three, the Korean Peninsular has been a central element in the US's strategic posture in east Asia since the end of the Second World War. It has continued to be so for different but related reasons. We examine these reasons, paying particular attention to the shifting US orientation to North Korea over the past decade, and how this impacts on diplomacy in the entire region. We end by considering the implications of the latest round of posturing and sabre rattling by both North Korea and the United States.

Reading

John Delury, 'Trump and North Korea: Reviving the Art of the Deal', Foreign Affairs, 96 (2017) pp. 46-51.

Bruce Cummings, 'The North Korean Problem: Dealing with Irrationality', Current History, Vol 108 (2009), pp. 284-290.

Jae Jeok Park, 'The US-led alliances in the Asia -Pacific: hedge against potential threats or an undesirable multilateral security state', The Pacific Review, Vol 24 No. 2 (2011), pp. 137-158.

Week 10 (18 October) The United States and China 1: Economics

China surpassed Japan in the mid-2000s to become the world's second largest economy. Many economists predict that it will overtake the US as the world's largest economy sometime in the 2020s. This spectacular growth has been accompanied by an increased integration with the regional economy, and indeed an increased interdependence between the Chinese and US economies. This process has been riven with tensions and contradictions, which this week's lecture explores in some detail.  

Reading

Christopher Layne, 'The US-China Power Shift and the End of Pax Americana', International Affairs, Vol 91, 1 (2018), pp. 89-111.

Robert Brenner and S. J. Jeong, 'Overproduction not Financial Collapse is the Heart of the Crisis: the US, East Asia and the World', The Asia Pacific Journal Vol 7, issue 6 number 5 (2009).

Jochen Prantl, 'Taming hegemony: Informal Institutions and the Challenge to Western Liberal Orders', The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 7, no 4 (2014), pp449-482

Week 11 (25 October) The United States and China 2: Politics

As China's economy has grown, so to has its political and diplomatic influence in the region. China has become increasingly assertive in promoting its regional agenda, sometimes at the expense of its neighbors, all of whom look to the US as a guarantor of their security. More broadly, China is challenging the unrivaled hegemony that the US has enjoyed in East Asia for decades. In this lecture we expand on some of the themes that we began to talk about in the previous session, and examine the politics of increased US and Chinese rivalry.  

Reading

G. John Ikkenberry, 'Between the Eagle and the Dragon: America, China and Middle State Strategies in East Asia', Political Science Quarterly, Vol 131, 1 (2016) pp. 9-43.

John J. Mearsheimer, 'The Gathering Storm: China's Challenge to US Power in Asia', The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol 3 (2010), pp. 381-396.

Jihyun Kim, 'Possible Future of the Contest in the South China Sea', The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 9, No 1 (2016) pp. 27-57

Week 12 (1 November) War and Peace in East Asia?

Recent developments in the South China Sea, along with Trump's escalating Trade War, have been interpreted by many as a dangerous escalation of brinkmanship that could, ultimately, lead to war. Most liberal internationalists reject this interpretation as exaggerated, arguing that the level of economic integration between the US and Chinese economies precludes the possibility of war. We evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the contending positions, and put the US/Chinese rivalry into a longer-term historical perspective, before summing up what we have learned over the previous 12 weeks.  

Reading

Charles A. Kupchan, 'The Normative Foundations of Hegemony and the Coming Challenge to Pax Americana', Security Studies, Vol. 23, 2 (2014) pp. 219-257.

James Dobbins, 'War with China', Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, Vol. 54, No. 4 (2012) pp. 7-24

Mel Gurtov, Will this be China's Century? A Skeptic's View (Boulder, Lynne Rienner 2013), pp. 137-148

Week 13 (8 November) Class Test (for internal students - externals have a take home test)

For internal students there will be a 2 hour test that will be conducted in the usual lecture time and place.