The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order by Yoichi Funabashi (Editor); G. John Ikenberry (Editor)A 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Japan's challenges and opportunities in a new era of uncertainty Henry Kissinger wrote a few years ago that Japan has been for seven decades "an important anchor of Asian stability and global peace and prosperity." However, Japan has only played this anchoring role within an American-led liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II. Now that order itself is under siege, not just from illiberal forces such as China and Russia but from its very core, the United States under Donald Trump. The already evident damage to that order, and even its possible collapse, pose particular challenges for Japan, as explored in this book. Noted experts survey the difficult position that Japan finds itself in, both abroad and at home. The weakening of the rules-based order threatens the very basis of Japan's trade-based prosperity, with the unreliability of U.S. protection leaving Japan vulnerable to an economic and technological superpower in China and at heightened risk from a nuclear North Korea. Japan's response to such challenges are complicated by controversies over constitutional revision and the dark aspects of its history that remain a source of tension with its neighbors. The absence of virulent strains of populism have helped to provide Japan with a stable platform from which to pursue its international agenda. Yet with a rapidly aging population, widening intergenerational inequality, and high levels of public debt, the sources of Japan's stability--its welfare state and immigration policies--are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Each of the book's chapters is written by a specialist in the field, and the book benefits from interviews with more than 40 Japanese policymakers and experts, as well as a public opinion survey. The book outlines today's challenges to the liberal international order, proposes a role for Japan to uphold, reform and shape the order, and examines Japan's assets as well as constraints as it seeks to play the role of a proactive stabilizer in the Asia-Pacific.
Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin by Eltchaninoff, Michel, author"The Russian president's landmark speeches, interviews and policies borrow heavily from great Russian thinkers past and present, from Peter the Great to Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn. They offer powerful visions of strong leaders and the Russian nation: they value conservatism and the Slavic spirit. They root morality in Orthodoxy, and Russian identity in the historic struggle with the West. Today, Putin manages and manipulates those same ideas in his 'defense' of 130 million ethnic Russians against the world. With the annexation of Crimea, the war in Syria and shock election results across the West, the challenge of decrypting his worldview has become more pressing than ever. From a Eurasian Union to a new Russian Empire, this is a revealing tour of Kremlin doctrine and strategy, viewed through its philosophical roots"
Putin's Russia by Darrell Slider (Editor); Stephen K. Wegren (As told to)Thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated, the new edition of this classic text provides the most authoritative and current analysis of contemporary Russia. Leading scholars explore the domestic and international problems Russia confronts, including political, economic, societal, and foreign policy issues. The new edition provides an analysis from multiple perspectives on the major challenges facing Russia and Putin's regime. Updates include new sections on corruption, Russia's conflicts with Ukraine and Georgia, Russia's response to Only by understanding these challenges--and previous efforts to deal with them--will it be possible to understand the trajectory for Russia. Well written and clearly organized, this text is an indispensable guide for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Russia.
Populisms: A Quick Immersion by Carlos de la TorrePopulisms a Quick Immersion analyzes populism globally and through the lens of Latin America, where populists have governed since the 1930s and 1940s up to the present. When populism is analyzed globally, the novelty is not its presence in most regions of the world. After all, populists have challenged the power of political and economic elites since the nineteenth century, and the first self-described Populist Party was formed in the U.S. in 1891. What is new is that populists are in office not only in Venezuela, Bolivia, the Philippines and Turkey but also in the U.S. as well as other consolidated Western liberal democracies like Italy. By learning from the experiences of populism in the global south, citizens, activists, journalists and politicians in the global north might avoid making the same mistakes when dealing with populists in power.
Post-Fascist Japan: Political Culture in Kamakura after the Second World War by Laura Hein; Christopher Gerteis (Series edited by)In late 1945 local Japanese turned their energies toward creating new behaviors and institutions that would give young people better skills to combat repression at home and coercion abroad. They rapidly transformed their political culture-policies, institutions, and public opinion-to create a more equitable, democratic and peaceful society. Post-Fascist Japan explores this phenomenon, focusing on a group of highly educated Japanese based in the city of Kamakura, where the new political culture was particularly visible. The book argues that these leftist elites, many of whom had been seen as 'the enemy' during the war, saw the problem as one of fascism, an ideology that had succeeded because it had addressed real problems. They turned their efforts to overtly political-legal systems but also to ostensibly non-political and community institutions such as universities, art museums, local tourism, and environmental policies, aiming not only for reconciliation over the past but also to reduce the anxieties that had drawn so many towards fascism. By focusing on people who had an outsized influence on Japan's political culture, Hein's study is local, national, and transnational. She grounds her discussion using specific personalities, showing their ideas about 'post-fascism', how they implemented them and how they interacted with the American occupiers.
The Party and the People: Chinese Politics in the 21st Century by Bruce J. DicksonHow the Chinese Communist Party maintains its power by both repressing and responding to its people Since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has maintained unrivaled control over the country, persisting even in the face of economic calamity, widespread social upheaval, and violence against its own people. Yet the party does not sustain dominance through repressive tactics alone--it pairs this with surprising responsiveness to the public. The Party and the People explores how this paradox has helped the CCP endure for decades, and how this balance has shifted increasingly toward repression under the rule of President Xi Jinping. Delving into the tenuous binary of repression and responsivity, Bruce Dickson illuminates numerous questions surrounding the CCP's rule: How does it choose leaders and create policies? When does it allow protests? Will China become democratic? Dickson shows that the party's dual approach lies at the core of its practices--repression when dealing with existential, political threats or challenges to its authority, and responsiveness when confronting localized economic or social unrest. The state answers favorably to the demands of protesters on certain issues, such as local environmental hazards and healthcare, but deals harshly with others, such as protests in Tibet, Xinjiang, or Hong Kong. With the CCP's greater reliance on suppression since Xi Jinping's rise to power in 2012, Dickson considers the ways that this tipping of the scales will influence China's future. Bringing together a vast body of sources, The Party and the People sheds new light on how the relationship between the Chinese state and its citizens shapes governance.