Abramowitz (The Century Foundation) and Bosworth (law and diplomacy, Tufts U.) describe the new reality in East Asia. What the US once thought was its control over the region is changing rapidly, and these two veterans of the State Department and diplomatic circles carefully describe the historical context as well as the results in terms of an increasingly complex US military, diplomatic, and financial involvement; the role of the new China; the perceptions of those who believe that the US should continue its role as it has in the last 50 years; the rise of Southeast Asia as an economic region; the question of democracy; and the choices the US must make, considering the effects of globalization and development. Distributed by Brookings Institution Press. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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During the past half century, U.S. policy in East Asia was guided by a simple dictum: avoid the domination of East Asia by any power other than the United States. Increasingly, however, this policy approach seems questionable in a globalizing world, a massively changed East Asia, and a much deeper U.S. economic involvement in the region. Even as East Asian leaders often tell Americans they want a continued U.S. presence for security purposes, they also fear an American effort to "contain" China that will put them between a rising regional power and the global superpower, creating dangerous tensions that ultimately would threaten the region's golden goose—China's powerful economic growth engine. Others, like some Japanese, would welcome a conclusion by the United States that a powerful China ultimately threatens American interests. The Post-American Century in East Asia addresses major policy problems of East Asia—from the management of our relations with China to the North Korean nuclear problem to the growth of East Asian regionalism. The book answers how, in light of East Asia's growing power and influence, the United States can retain influence commensurate with its interests. The transformation of the region requires us to ask whether some longstanding perspectives are still relevant, as well as what changes are needed in American policy.
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