Synopses & Reviews
Changing national identities have transformed the China-Taiwan and Korean conflicts. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea, and liberalization in China, have forced leaders to compete for popular legitimacy by appealing to national identities. Along with the collapse of the Soviet Union, these contested national identities have been the main factors driving change in the conflicts--pushing China and Taiwan inexorably apart and toward a showdown, while helping to prop up what appeared to be a mortally wounded North Korea. This explains why one U.S. ally, Taiwan, becomes more hawkish, while the other, South Korea, becomes more dovish. U.S. foreign policy is struggling to adjust.
Review
“The break-up of the Yugoslav federation, civil war and genocide in Rwanda and Sudan, consolidation of the European Union, and the phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism are all symptomatic of the importance of identity politics in contemporary world affairs. While most current scholarly and policy discourse tends to frame international and intranational conflicts in terms of clashes of interests, there is much to be said about these interests themselves being ‘constructed from the relevant groups' self-identities and their identification (or the lack thereof) with their counterparts: interests are derivative of identities. This volume takes on the important topic of evolving identities across the Taiwan Strait and on the Korean peninsula, and offers a penetrating series of analyses that goes beyond the current headlines.”
--Steven Chan, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Colorado at Boulder
"This fascinating volume is a major contribution to the literature on national identity. Focusing on identity reformation/change in one of the world's most dynamic regions, East Asia, this book shows how changes in political institutions interact with internal and international events to change national identities and conceptions of national interests. Such changes have destabilized the long-frozen, Cold War-era conflicts between China and Taiwan and between the Koreas, making them much more difficult to control. To understand these fast-changing conflicts and the current struggles of U.S. foreign policy, policy-makers, scholars, and students alike should read this book."
--Suisheng Zhao, Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, and author of A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism
"Analysts and commentators regularly cite East Asian national identities and identity crises as driving the region's conflicts, but do not specify how. This book goes well beyond simply taking note of the identity dimension. By making it the central element of a reevaluation of the East Asian security situation, this book provides a deeper understanding of the international politics of this crucial region today."
--Patrick Morgan, Tierney Chair in Global Peace and Conflict Studies, University of California, Irvine "Recommended." —CHOICE
Synopsis
This book examines the changing national identities that are transforming East Asia - pushing China and Taiwan apart and toward a showdown, while propping up a weakened North Korea. Accomplished contributors analyze the dynamics and the U.S.'s policy response.
About the Author
Shale Horowitz is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research examines international and ethnic conflict and economic policy in Asia and Europe. He is the author of
From Ethnic Conflict to Stillborn Reform: The Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (2005), and co-editor of three books, including
Conflict in Asia: Korea, China-Taiwan, and India-Pakistan (2003). His articles have been published in many prominent political science journals.
Uk Heo is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests are in the political economy of defense spending, international conflict, and Asian politics. He is author, co-author, or co-editor of five books. His articles have appeared in many top political science journals.
Alexander C. Tan is an Associate Professor/Reader in Comparative Politics and Political Science Program Director in the School of Political Science and Communications at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is currently an editorial board member of International Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and Political Research Quarterly. He has written widely in the areas of Asian politics, comparative political parties, and comparative political economy. He is author of Members, Organizations, and Performance and co-editor of Taiwan's National Security: Dilemmas and Opportunities. His articles have been widely published in political science journals.