Why approach Asian politics using the concepts of ‘regionality’ and ‘political systems’?
Attempting to understand Asian politics by region is a very interesting challenge. Asia occupies an expansive space. ‘Locality’ was therefore selected in an attempt to systematically understand the vast topic that is Asian politics. As of 2011, 193 countries are currently members of the United Nations (UN). Based on this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea divided the UN member states into regions. This was so that, prior to examining the politics of individual countries, a systematic understanding of Asia could be achieved by dividing it into five regions: ‘Northeast Asia’, ‘Southeast Asia’, ‘South Asia’, ‘West Asia’, and ‘Central Asia’.
In adopting a regional approach to Asian politics, it is assumed that the politics of individual countries are influenced by interactions with neighboring countries and the characteristics of the region to which that country belongs, and therefore that the political interactions between countries again influences the formation of ‘regionality.’ In other words, in order to understand the politics of each country, it is necessary to understand the historical, cultural, and political characteristics of the region to which that country belongs.
How is a ‘regionality’ that is politically meaningful formed? It is the result of interaction between countries existing within the region and the influence of countries outside the region. Of key importance is what political choices and influences are made by forces external to the region (that is, countries that have a profound influence on the formation of international order), or how the relations between countries outside the region and countries within the region are formed.
How are we to understand the politics of individual countries in Asia? Generally, only ‘China’ and ‘Japan’ have been dealt with as case studies on countries. China and Japan are important research subjects because they are neighboring countries that have a great influence on Korean politics. And at the same time, as these two countries have a great influence on world politics as well as Northeast Asian politics. As such, it is very important to structurally understand the politics of China and Japan.
Table of Contents
Prologue. Understanding Asia from a multi-layered perspective, understanding Asian politics – Kyunghee Choi (Seoul National University Asia Center)
1. Characteristics of Northeast Asian International Politics and Prospects for the New Future – Jaeseong Jeon (Department of Politics & International Relations, Seoul National University)
2. Why do Southeast Asian countries with similar histories have diverse political systems? – Jaehyeok Shin (Department of Politics & International Relations, Korea University)
3. Long-running authoritarian politics in Central Asia – Jaenam Ko (Korea Eurasian Policy Institute)
4. Current status of the Middle East’s capabilities from the perspective of comparative politics – Jihyang Jang (The Asan Institute for Policy Studies)
5. India, Asia’s premier constitutional country – Gyeongsun Kang (Korea National Open University)
6. The dynamics of Chinese politics: a modern imperial system? – Yoonmi Jang (China Research Center, Dongseo University)
7. Japanese politics of rule and conflict – Seoksang Yoon (Department of International Relations, Sun Moon University)