17.433
International Relations of East Asia
Introduces and analyzes the international relations of East Asia. Examines the sources of conflict and cooperation during and after the Cold War, assessing competing explanations for key events in East Asia's international relations. Readings drawn from international relations theory, political science and history. Students taking the graduate version are expected to pursue the subject in greater depth through reading and individual research.
Spring 2011
Topics
- Introduction
- International Relations Theory and East Asia
- Historical Legacies
- Origins of the Cold War in East Asia
- Korean War I
- Korean War II
- Containment in East Asia
- Vietnam War
- Collapse of the China-Soviet Alliance
- US-China Rapprochement
- China-Soviet Cold War
- US-China Normalization and Beyond
- Maintaining Regional Order I: ASEAN
- Financial Miracles
- Japan’s Emergence
- Ripe for Rivalry?
- Maintaining Regional Order II: Beyond ASEAN
- Financial Crisis and Regionalism
- Crisis in the Taiwan Straits
- Crisis on the Korean Peninsula
- China’s Rise
- A New Security Dilemma?
- The U.S. in East Asia
- Conclusion and Wrap-Up
Readings
- Herring, George C. America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975 with Poster . 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2001. ISBN: 9780072536188.
- Ikenberry, G. John, and Michael Mastanduno, eds. “International Relations Theory and the Search for Stability.” In International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific . Columbia University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780231125901.
- Waltz, Kenneth. Theory of International Politics . McGraw-Hill, 1979, pp. 116–28. ISBN: 9780075548522.
- Kowert, Paul, and Jeffrey Legro. “Norms, Identity, and Their Limits: A Theoretical Reprise.” In The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics . Edited by Peter Katzenstein. Columbia University Press, 1996, pp. 451–97 and especially 451–68. ISBN: 9780231104685.
- Garver, John. “The Legacy of the Past.” In Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China . Prentice Hall, 1992, pp. 2–30. ISBN: 9780133264142.
- Whiting, Allen S. “Past to the Present.” Chapter 2 in China Eyes Japan . University of California Press, 1989, pp. 27–40. ISBN: 9780520065116.
- LaFeber, Walter. “The Cold War, or the Renewal of U.S.-Russian Rivalry.” In The American Age . W. W. Norton, 1989, pp. 434–70. ISBN: 9780393026290.
- Dower, John W. “Occupied Japan and the Cold War in Asia.” In Japan in War and Peace: Selected Essays . New Press, 1993, pp. 155–93.
- Gaddis, John Lewis. “Drawing Lines: The Defensive Perimeter Strategy in East Asia, 1947–1951.” In The Long Peace: Inquiries Into the History of the Cold War . Oxford University Press, 1987, pp. 72–104.
- Christensen, Thomas J. Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American Conflict, 1947–1958 . Princeton University Press, 1996, pp. 77–137. ISBN: 9780691026374.
- Mayers, David. Cracking the Monolith: US Policy Against the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1949–1955 . Louisiana State University Press, 1986, pp. 33–63. ISBN: 9780807112878.
- Pollard, Robert A. “U.S. Economic Diplomacy in East Asia: The Fall of China and the Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–50.” In Economic Security and the Origins of the Cold War, 1945–50 . Columbia University Press, 1985, pp. 168–96. ISBN: 9780231058308.
- LaFeber, Walter. “Korea: The Unexpected War.” In The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad . Norton, 1989, pp. 486–9. ISBN: 9780393026290.
- Cumings, Bruce. “Collision.” In Korea’s Place in the Sun . Norton, 1997, pp. 237–64. ISBN: 9780393040111.
- LaFeber, Walter. “The Big Turn of 1949–1950: Rollback and the Start of a Twenty-Year U.S.-China Conflict.” In The American Age . W. W. Norton & Company, 1994, pp. 496–500. ISBN: 9780393964745.
- Christensen, Thomas J. Useful Adversaries . Princeton University Press, 1996, pp. 148–76 and 192–3. ISBN: 9780691026374.
- Jian, Chen. “After Inchon: The Making of the Decision on Intervention.” In China’s Road to the Korean War . Columbia University Press, 1995, pp. 158–89. ISBN: 9780231100243.
- Zhihua, Shen. “Sino-North Korean Conflict and its Resolution during the Korean War.” Cold War International History Project Bulletin , no. 14/15.
- Shambaugh, David and Michael Yahuda. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific . Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008, pp. 101–22. ISBN: 9780742556966.
- Pyle, Kenneth. The Making of Modern Japan . D. C. Heath and Company, 1978, pp. 227–40. ISBN: 9780669846577.
- Di, He. “The Evolution of the People’s Republic of China’s Policy Toward the Offshore Islands (Quemoy, Matsu).” In The Great Powers in East Asia: 1953–60 . Edited by Warren I. Cohen and Akira Iriye. Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 222–45. ISBN: 9780231071741.
- Christensen, Thomas J. Useful Adversaries . Princeton University Press, 1996, pp. 194–241.
- Kahin, George. Intervention: How America Became Involved in Vietnam . Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, pp. 34–65. ISBN: 9780394543673.
- Hess, Gary. “The American Search for Stability in Southeast Asia: The SEATO Structure of Containment.” In The Great Powers in East Asia . Edited by Warren I. Cohen and Akira Iriye. Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 273–95. ISBN: 9780231071741.
- Gallicchio, Marc. “Best Defense is a Good Offense.” In The Great Powers In East Asia . Edited by Warren I. Cohen and Akira Iriye. Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 63–85.
- Herring, George C. America’s Longest War . McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2001, pp. 53–169 and skim 1–51. ISBN: 9780072536188.
- Anderson, David L. “The Vietnam War.” In A Companion to American Foreign Relations . Edited by Robert D. Schulzinger. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2006, pp. 310–29. ISBN: 9781405149860.
- Garver, John. Foreign Policy of the People’s Republic of China . Prentice Hall, 1992, pp. 120–31 and 136–41. ISBN: 9780133264142.
- Yibo, Bo. “The Making of the ‘Leaning to One Side’ Decision.” Chinese Historian 5, no. 1 (1992): 57–62.
- Mouhong, Xue. The Diplomacy of Contemporary China . New Horizon Press, 1990, pp. 138–50. ISBN: 9789627176121. [NOTE: this is an official diplomatic history from the PRC]
- Dittmer, Lowell. “Socialist Dependency.” In Sino-Soviet Normalization and its International Implications, 1945–1990 . Washington University Press, 1993, pp. 17–26. ISBN: 9780295971186.
- Khrushchev, Nikita. Khrushchev Remembers . Little Brown, 1970, pp. 461–79. ISBN: 9781135429584.
- 1972 “Shanghai” Communiqué
- Mann, James. About Face: A History of America’s Curious Relationship with China, From Nixon to Clinton . Knopf, 1998, pp. 13–77. ISBN: 9780679450535.
- Dittmer, Lowell. “Romantic Triangle.” In Sino-Soviet Normalization and its International Implications, 1945–1990 . Washington University Press, 1993, pp. 195–206. ISBN: 9780295971186.
- Jian, Chen. “The Sino-American Rapprochement: 1968–1972.” In Mao’s China and the Cold War . University of North Carolina Press, 2000, pp. 238–76. ISBN: 9780807826171.
- Dittmer, Lowell. “Sino-American Marriage.” In Sino-Soviet Normalization and its International Implications, 1945–1990 . Washington University Press, 1993, pp. 207–16. ISBN: 9780295971186.
- Garver, John. “The Period of Sino-Soviet Confrontation.” In Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China . Prentice Hall, 1992, pp. 304–19. ISBN: 9780133264142.
- Gelman, Harry. “The Sino-Soviet Dispute in the 1970s: An Overview.” In The Sino-Soviet Conflict: A Global Perspective . Edited by Herbert J. Ellison. University of Washington Press, 1982, pp. 355–72. ISBN: 9780295958545.
- Jacobsen, Carl G. “Sino-Vietnamese War: Crisis in Sino-Soviet Relations.” In Sino-Soviet Relations Since Mao . Praeger, 1981, pp. 92–107. ISBN: 9780030583469.
- Langer, Paul F. “Soviet Military Power in Asia.” In Soviet Policy in East Asia . Edited by Donald Zagoria. Yale University Press, 1982, pp. 255–82.
- 1979 Communiqué
- 1979 Taiwan Relations Act
- 1982 Communiqué
- Harding, Harry. A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972 . Brookings, 1992, pp. 82–7. ISBN: 9780815734666.
- Dittmer, Lowell. “Sinocentric Romantic Triangle.” In Sino-Soviet Normalization and its International Implications, 1945–1990 . Washington University Press, 1993, pp. 217–30. ISBN: 9780295971186.
- Freeman, Charles W., Jr. “The Process of Rapprochement: Achievements and Problems.” In Sino-American Normalization and Its Policy Implications . Edited by Gene T. Hsiao and Michael Witunski. Praeger, 1983, pp. 1–27. ISBN: 9780030580222.
- Pharr, Susan. “Japan’s Defense Foreign Policy and the Politics of Burden-Sharing.” In Japan’s Foreign Policy After the Cold War: Coping with Change . Edited by Gerald Curtis. M. E. Sharpe, 1993, pp. 235–64. ISBN: 9781563242168.
- Segal, Gerald, ed. “Arms Control and Sino-Soviet Relations.” In Arms Control in Asia . St. Martins, 1987, pp. 43–65. ISBN: 9780333424001.
- Leifer, Michael. ASEAN and the Security of South East Asia . Routledge, 1989, pp. 1–15.
- Leifer, Michael. ASEAN and the Security of South East Asia . Routledge, 1989, pp. 17–88 (reserve).
- Islam, Iyanatul, and Anis Chowdhury. The Political Economy of East Asia . Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 1–42. ISBN: 9780195540901.
- Matthews, Trevor, and John Ravenhill. “Strategic Trade Policy: The Northeast Asian Experience.” In Business and Government in Industrializing Asia . Edited by Andrew MacIntyre. Cornell University Press, 1995, pp. 29–80 (skim the case studies). ISBN: 9780801482274.
- World Bank. East Asian Miracle . Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780195209938.
- Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Shahid Yusuf. Rethinking the East Asian Miracle . World Bank Publications, 2001. ISBN: 9780195216004.
- Hughes, Christopher W. Chapter 1 in Japan’s Re-emergence as a ‘Normal’ Military Power . Adelphi Paper No. 368. Routledge, 2006. ISBN: 9780198567585.
- Pyle, Kenneth. “Yoshida Doctrine as Grand Strategy.” In Japan Rising: The Resurgence Of Japanese Power And Purpose . Public Affairs, 2008, pp. 241–77. ISBN: 9781586485672.
- Leifer, Michael. The ASEAN Regional Forum . Adelphi Paper No. 302. Routledge, 1996, pp. 31–60. ISBN: 9780198292630.
- Johnston, Alastair Iain. “The Myth of the ASEAN Way: Explaining the Evolution of the ARF.” In Imperfect Unions: Security Institutions Over Time and Space . Edited by Helga Haftendorn, et al. Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 287–324. ISBN: 9780198207962.
- Cha, Victor. “Multilateral Security in Asia and the U.S.-Japan Alliance.” In Reinventing the Alliance: U.S.-Japan Security Partnership in an Era of Change . Edited by G. John Ikenberry and Takashi Inoguchi. Palgrave, 2003, pp. 141–62. ISBN: 9781403963154.
- Acharya, Amitav. “Regional Institutions and Asian Security Order: Norms, Power and Prospects for Peaceful Change.” In Asian Security Order: Instrumental and Normative Features . Edited by Muthiah Alagappa. Stanford University Press, 2002, pp. 210–40. ISBN: 9780804746281.
- Lamberte, Mario B. “An Overview of Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia.” In Asian Economic Cooperation and Integration: Progress, Prospects, and Challenges . Asian Development Bank, 2006. ISBN: 9789715615495.
- Lee, Bernice. The Security Implications of the New Taiwan . Adelphi Paper No. 331. Routledge, 1999, pp. 13–42. ISBN: 9780199224791.
- 2005 Anti-Secession Law
- Romberg, Alan. Rein in at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations . Henry L. Stimson Center, 2003 (skim, but this is a key work). ISBN: 9780974725543.
- Brandt, Loren, Thomas G. Rawski, and Xiaodong Zhu. “International Dimensions of China’s Long Boom.” In China’s Rise and the Balance of Influence in Asia . Edited by William W. Keller and Thomas G. Rawski. University of Pittsburg Press, 2007, pp. 14–46. ISBN: 9780822959670.
- Brown, Harold, Joseph W. Prueher, and Adam Segal. Chinese Military Power: Report of an Independent Task Force . Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780876093306.
- Hughes, Christopher W. Chapter 2 in Japan’s Re-emergence as a ‘Normal’ Military Power . Adelphi Paper No. 368. Routledge, 2006. ISBN: 9780198567585.
- Abramowtiz, Morton, and Stephen Bosworth. “America Confronts the Asian Century.” Current History (2006): 147–52.
- O’Hanlon, Michael. “U.S. Military Modernization: Implications for U.S. Policy in Asia.” In Strategic Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty . Edited by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills. National Bureau of Asian Research, 2005, pp. 41–65. ISBN: 9780971393868.
- Cohen, Stephen D. “Superpower as Super-Debtor: Implications of Economic Disequilibria for U.S.-Asia Relations.” In Strategic Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty . Edited by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills. National Bureau of Asian Research, 2005, pp. 29–64. ISBN: 9780971393868.
Prerequisites & course information
Subject meets with 17.434 Prereq: None U (Spring) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2011
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.