This book, first published in 1990 and written from a Japanese perspective, examines the gradual transformation of Japan's traditional role in world politics since the Second World War. With Japan's postwar economic success came calls from many quarters for it to match its economic involvement with an equal commitment to international political relations. The book discusses in detail the realization by Japan's leadership that international cooperation must take place on many diverse levels, and focuses on Japan's involvement in Western affairs during the 1980s, through participation in the seven-power economic and political summits and dialogue at the meetings of ASEAN.
In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, Nick Heil recounts the harrowing story of the deadly and controversial 2006 climbing season on Everest. In early May 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall’s death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter. If David Sharp’s death was shocking, it was not singular: despite unusually good weather, ten others died attempting to reach the summit that year. In this meticulous inquiry into what went wrong, Nick Heil tells the full story of the deadliest year on Everest since the infamous season of 1996. He introduces Russell Brice, the outfitter who has done more than anyone to provide access to the summit via the mountain’s north side–and who some believe was partially responsible for Sharp’s death. As more climbers attempt the summit each year, Heil shows how increasingly risky expeditions and unscrupulous outfitters threaten to turn Everest into a deadly circus. Written by an experienced climber and outdoor writer, Dark Summit is both a riveting account of a notorious climbing season and a troubling investigation into whether the pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering prize has spiralled out of control.
This title was first published in 2000: This inside look at the G7/G8 summits is from an author who combines personal experience of the summit process with academic analysis. It weaves together a critical narrative of the annual summits with essays on their interaction with contemporary trends - interdependence, globalization and the end of the Cold War - and with key international institutions. the summits are judged against their original objectives: reconciling domestic and external pressures, mobilizing collective management and providing political leadership. Readers should take away an understanding of how the leaders of the major industrial democracies have responded to the transformation of the world economy during the late 20th century and how far they have succeeded in reforming the international economic system to meet the next millennium.
This book analyzes Ohira's ideology, philosophy, and actions as a politician and a minister, based on primary sources from Japan and the USA, and makes a significant contribution to the field of Japanese political and diplomatic history. This book is the first critical biography to chart Masayoshi Ohira’s life and work, with a focus on his political philosophy, and how he sought to create a new order in the Asia-Pacific region, framing a plan for solidarity across the Pacific Rim. If a statesman is a politician who has made diplomacy their life's work, then Ohira can be regarded as the first Japanese statesman of the modern era. While this ambition remained unfulfilled, Ohira's involvement in foreign policy was long and intensive—and highly influential—on the region. One of only two postwar prime ministers to have served as foreign minister for two terms, he attempted to balance the pursuit of a new order in the Pacific Rim with Asian diplomacy and focused on cooperation with the USA without becoming overly reliant on it. With the new availability of original documents decades after his death, this book has become possible, enabling the author to systematically follow and record Ohira's diplomatic vision. Combining history, political philosophy, political science, and international relations, this book is of appeal to history scholars and students of Japan, as well as of the foreign relations of countries such as the USA, China, and Korea.
This book explains the increasingly turbulent Sino–Japanese relations since the 2000s by innovatively investigating the formation mechanism of mutual misperception deeply rooted in China-Japan-U.S. trilateral structural dynamics. The political and security relationship has been increasingly deteriorating against the high interdependency between the world’s second and third largest economies. More ironically, both sides have also shown the intent and made efforts to improve bilateral ties. The author systematically conducts a focused comparison of the evolution of the Sino-Japanese mutual perceptions and policies toward one another during the past decade and a half. Empirically, Yun Zhang closely examines five case studies that provide insights to IR students and scholars and policy makers on how misperception and mistrust have formed, replicated, and intensified.
This Open Access book carefully examines the legal and historical bases of the territory of Japan as a modern State from the Meiji period to 2002. A new preface summarizes key developments in the situation up through 2022. Japan’s current territory is stipulated by the Potsdam Declaration (1945) and the Treaty of Peace with Japan (1951); it includes the Northern Territories, the Senkaku Islands, and Takeshima. Japan has demanded the return of the Northern Territories, comprising the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai, which are occupied by Russia. China has claimed sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands, which are validly controlled by Japan; Japan has claimed sovereignty over Takeshima, which is occupied by the Republic of Korea. This book analyzes the current status of these territorial topics, drawing on historical documents and international legal precedent, and it suggests peaceful methods to address them. In discussing territorial land, sea, and air space, this work touches upon postwar concepts defining modern international law and relevant rules on these subjects—exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelves, and air defense identification zones (ADIZs)—found in international treaties, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and related domestic laws.
