EAST ASIA AND THE UNITED STATES.RECENT IMPROVEMENTS AND OUTLOOK
0
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
초록
East Asia remains beset by numerous difficult issues ranging from regional hot spots in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula, to economic difficulties in Japan and broader policy drift in Indonesia. The region is full of strategic uncertainty and economic and political change. The results include pervasive hedging by regional powers; most governments are using more diversified diplomacy, military preparations and other means to insure their particular interests will be safeguarded, especially in case the regional situation should change for the worse. While generally recognizing the need to conform to international economic norms, East Asian governments also seek to block or slow perceived adverse consequences of economic globalization, seen as supported by the United States, and they seek greater cooperation with similarly affected governments in and outside the region. Politically, regional governments are inclined to oppose the US and other outside pressure for political rights and democracy that come at the expense of national sovereignty and stability. Trends in the region and US policy toward the region also are likely to be affected by major turmoil caused by such imminent dangers as another large-scale terrorist attack on America, a war possibly involving nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan, escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or a US military attack against Iraq. US economic power could decline with the turndown in the US stock market and the weakening of the dollar. Despite these challenges, this article argues that recent US policy has served to reinforce the US position as the region’s preferred security guarantor and economic partner. Other circumstances, notably the US-led war on terrorism and the preoccupation of East Asian leaders with domestic issues, have strengthened the US leading position in East Asia and allowed for a generally positive outlook in US-East Asian relations for the rest of the Bush administration.
Abstract
East Asia remains beset by numerous difficult issues ranging from regional hot spots in the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula, to economic difficulties in Japan and broader policy drift in Indonesia. The region is full of strategic uncertainty and economic and political change. The results include pervasive hedging by regional powers; most governments are using more diversified diplomacy, military preparations and other means to insure their particular interests will be safeguarded, especially in case the regional situation should change for the worse. While generally recognizing the need to conform to international economic norms, East Asian governments also seek to block or slow perceived adverse consequences of economic globalization, seen as supported by the United States, and they seek greater cooperation with similarly affected governments in and outside the region. Politically, regional governments are inclined to oppose the US and other outside pressure for political rights and democracy that come at the expense of national sovereignty and stability. Trends in the region and US policy toward the region also are likely to be affected by major turmoil caused by such imminent dangers as another large-scale terrorist attack on America, a war possibly involving nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan, escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or a US military attack against Iraq. US economic power could decline with the turndown in the US stock market and the weakening of the dollar. Despite these challenges, this article argues that recent US policy has served to reinforce the US position as the region’s preferred security guarantor and economic partner. Other circumstances, notably the US-led war on terrorism and the preoccupation of East Asian leaders with domestic issues, have strengthened the US leading position in East Asia and allowed for a generally positive outlook in US-East Asian relations for the rest of the Bush administration.