This chapter returns to issues raised by other authors in this section: the contrast between European, Chinese, and US perceptions of hard and soft power in the contexts of regional and global governance. Taking the ASEM process as a case, it shows how Europeans and Asians have approached the interaction from different institutional perspectives. Despite this, it sees ASEM as a process that reflects, and promotes, the advance of regional institutionalism in East Asia, adding an important dimension to the Europe–China relationship. This is then contrasted with the US strategy of dual divergence: a divergent internal strategy that rejects institutionalism for managing regional security; and an external divergent strategy that rejects the building of shared and reciprocal institutions between the USA and Asia. The chapter concludes that Europe's ‘balancing by convergence’ strategy has advantages over the USA's ‘balancing by divergence’ strategy.
As the Deng era approaches its end, concern abroad, particularly in East Asia, focuses on how the People's Republic of China (PRC) will cope with territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and India, and the continued quest for Taiwan. Meanwhile Chinese military modernization steadily increases the People's Liberation Army (PLA) air and sea power projection. The question arises: might a beleaguered post-Deng leadership seek to strengthen its legitimacy through exploitation of Chinese nationalism and if so, how would this manifest itself in foreign relations?
This article explores the dynamics of competition by means of soft power among two key regional states, China and Japan. It demonstrates that, in their embrace of regionalism, each has concentrated soft power on East Asian neighbors by competitively proposing regional visions that would best position it in the regional leadership stakes. China took the initiative, Japan responded quickly, and China is now striking back. This does not necessarily mean that the liberal claim that East Asia is "ripe for cooperation" is misplaced. Nor does it suggest that the realist claim of "ripe for rivalry" better represents the reality. Rather, this article argues that regional powers compete in order to attract neighbors. Since this contest involves embracing others, it is not necessarily a zero-sum game. This article evaluates the success, or lack thereof, of the two countries` efforts in order to learn what they imply for Korea.
Because China's demand for hydrocarbons is rapidly increasing and Japan remains dependent upon foreign sources, energy resources in the East Asia play a pivotal role in security policies of two of the largest energy consumers on the planet. While both nations are attempting to secure a steady supply of resources through cooperative "soft power" efforts, violent clashes in the South China Sea indicate that China's security policy may be more military focused than Beijing indicates.
This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on ‘soft power’ by focusing on East Asia as a region gaining in political and economic significance; equally, we highlight the role sports mega-events play in the region’s most powerful states’ soft power strategies. For the purpose of this paper, we focus on South Korea’s soft power strategy and how the hosting of major sporting events has become a central part of this. We introduce both a novel tripartite approach to the study of the motives behind hosting sports mega-events, along with new, empirical data on the chosen case of South Korea. Our findings strengthen the notion that an explanation of why states seek to host major sports events can be better understood by considering the domestic, regional and international dimensions to capture the complexities behind such decisions.
Subject
Outlook for ASEAN's agenda in 2017.
Significance
The Philippines begins operating as ASEAN's chair for 2017 in January, the annual position having rotated to Manila, which will preside over ASEAN's 50th year. Political changes in South-east Asia, including Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's inauguration back in June, call into question ASEAN's future direction on issues including territorial disputes between China and several South-east Asian nations in the South China Sea.
Impacts
The terrorist threat in South-east Asia and the southern Philippines particularly could grow.
AEC integration could help Duterte politically, as his domestic and foreign affairs interests converge in the economic sector.
The current Myanmar Rohingya Muslims controversy may spread into ASEAN next year.
Capturing Power Shift in East Asia: Toward an Analytical Framework for Understanding “Soft Power”
