Paper 1
Before the start of the World War II, Japan was a rising industrial power which was aiming for world domination. Japan’s imperial administration wanted the country to rise as a colonial power controlling a major chunk of countries in the Pacific Rim like China, India, Korea, etc. To this end, Japan developed one of the most powerful militaries of the time. During the World War II, Japan’s military was a dominant force which occupied bigger countries like China. However, the dominance of the Japanese military proved to be short-lived. The surrender of Japan in World War II following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki culminated in the end of the dominance of Japan’s military. After the end of World War II, USA occupied Japan and entered into an exclusive alliance with the Japanese military. As per the agreements entered as part of the alliance, 53,000 American troops were always stationed on the Japanese soil. The agreement has made Japan as one of the permanent military bases of USA and limited the power of Japanese military. The alliance also included terms where USA guaranteed the security of Japan from other external powers. The pacifist constitution that forced on Japan by the victors in the World War II limited the growth of Japanese military. From being a military power which defeated great European powers like Russia during the late 18th century, Japan had to start relying on USA for its security.
Before World War II, Japan had Meiji constitution that was drafted during the times of the Meiji restoration of the late 18th century. However, after the defeat of Japan in World War II, the allied powers lead by USA has enforced a new constitution on Japan that was meant to cut the military aggression of Japan. Following the occupation of Japan by USA after the former’s defeat in World War II, a new constitution was enacted on May 3, 1947. The constitution advocated a parliamentary form of government with the Japanese emperor having a purely ceremonial role without having any sovereign rights. According to the new constitution, the Japanese government will not pose any hurdles to its citizens in exercising their democratic rights. The new constitution had also cut the role of Japanese military to that of a protector of country’s security against any foreign aggression. As per the constitution, the Japanese military was restricted acting aggressive manner towards other countries. The restrictions that the new constitution has put on the Japanese government and military did not hinder the economic progress of Japan. Japanese and German economies were the best performing industrial economies in the post war period. Japan emerged as the world’s factory which manufactured most of its goods ranging from cars to electronic gadgets.
When compared with the complete sovereignty enjoyed by country’s (UK) military to act against any foreign power, the limited powers enjoyed by Japanese military acts a stumbling in the country’s security. If my country’s military also had the same kind of restrictions like that of Japan’s military, it would have faced a lot of difficulty in protecting my country’s security against external aggression. In the face of the changing world order where new military powers like China are poised to take over the world, restrictions similar to the ones Japanese military had would severely impact my country’s security.
Paper 2
How have Cold War politics shaped political developments in East Asia since the end of WWII?
The cold war politics had a significant impact on the political developments of East Asia. Both the leading powers of cold war (USA and USSR) have competed with each other to influence the East Asian politics to their own advantage. While USSR was keen to expand socialism to as many countries as possible, USA did all in its power to stop the advancement of socialism. USSR started extending support to a number of East Asian countries like China to advance its brand of socialism. Similarly, USA too started strengthening its presence to obstruct the spread of communism. The alliance that was entered by the American government with Japan after the end of World War II gave the US army a firm presence in East Asia from where it could control the politics of East Asia.
Despite the aggressive push given by Russia to spread communism in the area, it was the American foreign policy that had a deep impact on the politics of East Asia. The impact of American foreign policy on East Asia was more marked as the area was getting decolonized after the Second World War. Both USSR and USA have divided the area into multiple international camps following both communism and the western brand of capitalism with importance to democratic values. For example, Vietnam and Korea were split into two parts with each being supported by USA and USSR. The end result of cold war politics on East Asia was the democratisation of a number of East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan bringing peace and prosperity to the region (Hon Gareth Evans 1).
Assess the impact of China's rise on Japan's historical role in the Pacific Rim.
Today China is clearly the power that is on a constant rise (Hoge1). The communist rulers of China are fast transforming the economic strength of the country for gaining military power in the region. Rise of China is impacting some of the major powers in the Pacific region like Japan. Despite the humiliating defeat suffered by Japan in the World War II, it continued to exert a significant influence on the Pacific Rim region. One of the significant ways in which Japan influenced the Pacific Rim was through its industrial might. Japan controlled most of the lucrative industries like electronics and automobiles for much part of the 20th century. The security cover provided by USA as part of the agreement reached at the end of World War II too has contributed to the dominance of Japan in the Pacific Rim region.
The status quo in the Pacific Rim has changed significantly due to the rise of China. A rising with a desire to emerge as the regional superpower started influencing the trade and commerce in the region. China had also started to exert military influence on the region making many countries to get closer to USA for ensuring their safety. The recent crisis regarding the Senkoku islands between China and Japan is a case that clearly points to the growing assertion of China in the regional matters (Harner). Given that the rise of China seems unstoppable for a few years to come, it is beyond doubt that it will start marginalizing the role of Japan in the Pacific Rim region in the future.
Works Cited
Evans, Hon Gareth. “The Asia Pacific Region after the Cold War.” 27 Oct. 1994. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Harner, Stephen. “Japan and U.S. Ignored Chinese Signals and History, Blundering into the Senkoku/Diayoyu Crisis.” 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Hoge, James. “A Global Power Shift in the Making.” Aug. 2004. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Paper 3
Christensen, Thomas. “Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S. Policy Toward East Asia.” International Security. 31.1 (2006): 81-126. Web.
The article explores the impact that the rise of China is having on the international politics and the policies that were adopted by major global powers like USA to properly handle its rise. This paper is relevant for my course as it talks about the foreign policy of USA in East Asia since 1991.
The article analyses two divergent analytic approaches to assess the performance of the American security strategy followed in the East Asia region. The two approaches are positivesum which emphasizes the dangers of security dilemmas and tension spirals and the zero-sum approach which emphasizes the power competition and problems that are posed by the rise of China to the outside world. The authors conclude that paper by stating that USA would rather cooperate with China for maintaining its regional influence rather than containing its diplomatic influence and economic growth.
Ma, Lian. “Thinking of China’s Grand Strategy: Chinese Perspectives.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. 13.1 (2014): 15-168. Web.
The article talks about the grand strategy that is being adopted by the rulers of China in order to increase their influence on the world affairs. The article is relevant to my project as it talks about the growth of the Chinese power over the past two decades and the Chinese perspectives regarding the strategies being followed by the country to dominate in the global scene. Lian argues that the rise of China has an important bearing on the American policy. According the author, the rise of China is more obviously seen in the disputes that it was having with its neighbours like Japan. The paper calls for a pragmatic to deal with the issues raising out of China’s raise to power.
Works Cited
Christensen, Thomas. “Fostering Stability or Creating a Monster? The Rise of China and U.S. Policy Toward East Asia.” International Security.” 31.1 (2006): 81-126. Web.
Ma, Lian. “Thinking of China’s Grand Strategy: Chinese Perspectives.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. 13.1 (2014): 15-168. Web.
Paper 4
China is a big Asian country on the Pacific Rim. It is the biggest economies in the world and also the most populated country in the world. China has a very big landmass and is the second-biggest country in the world (Maps of the World). The country covers a total of 9.6 million square kilometres. The country’s strategic location in the centre of Asia has made it one of the major trading hubs in world. Despite being one of the biggest countries in the world, most of its land area is barren and hence unsuitable for cultivation. The country’s landscape is very diverse and consists of forest steppes, tropical forests, and big deserts like Gobi and Taklamakan. China along with Ethiopia and Afghanistan was a country that was never ruled by a foreigner. The country was ruled by different dynasties till the middle of the 20th century when the communist revolution established a one party rule by China’s communist party. Despite the country’s emphasis on socialist economic model, the country’s rulers adopted capitalism during the 1980s. Since then China’s economy has grown by leaps and bounds to emerge as the biggest economy in the world by the year 2014. Chinese economy is based on the manufacturing sector. Many major companies in the world like Apple and Samsung have made China as their manufacturing hub. All the major economies including the USA are the major trading partners of China. By the early 2000s, the Chinese government had embarked on a new economic policy to convert the investment based economy into the one that is mostly based on domestic consumption. The aging of the Chinese population and the increasing wage rates are supposed to lead to a temporary fall in the growth rates of the economy for a few decades in the early 21st century.
Chinese followed a significant range of religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Religions like Buddhism and Confucianism have made the Chinese to focus on achieving spiritual goals without putting too much emphasis on materialism. From the time of the Communist revolution during the middle of 20th century, the communist government did not encourage the practice of any religion and indulged in the destruction of temples and other religious structures. However, the rapid spread of Christianity by the early 21st century made the country’s communist government to rethink its policy of religion. The Chinese government started giving its people enough freedom to practice the religion of their choice.
China’s communist party rules the country with an iron fist and does not allow any rights to its citizens (Stanford). Despite calls and protests for the introduction democracy, the country is unlikely to move towards democracy any time in the future. Since the ancient times, the culture of Chin has been influenced by Confucianism and other major conservative philosophies. The impact of Confucianism was also felt on the exams that were conducted for selecting the country’s civil servants. Another key element of Chinese culture is its traditional emphasis on inward-looking national perspective and logic of profound history.
Works Cited
Maps of the World. “Largest Countries in the World by Area.” n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Communism and Computer Ethics. “Censorship and Freedom of Speech.” n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
