East Asian International Politics: From History to Theory

The Reorganization of the World Order in the 21st Century Requires a Focus on East Asia

The 2010s have marked a period of upheaval in international politics. The US-centric world order, maintained for over two decades since the end of the Cold War, is now shaken by the global financial crisis originating in the US. Furthermore, the rise of China presents prospects for the emergence of a new hegemony. East Asia, the point of collision between the hegemonic United States of the current era and the rising China, is at the center of discussions regarding the reorganization of the 21st-century international order. Since the Cold War, South Korea has pursued its national security strategy centered on the ROK-US alliance. Its neighboring country, China, has grown into its largest trading partner since the normalization of diplomatic relations, and is not only a major consideration in Korean Peninsula affairs but also a strategic partner with whom relations have been developed diplomatically. Therefore, future strategies for South Korea's survival and prosperity must be based on an accurate diagnosis and prediction of how the international order, particularly the East Asian order, will be reorganized. The author, Professor Chae-sung Lee (Department of Political Science and International Relations, Seoul National University; Director, Center for Asian Security Studies, Institute for East Asian Studies), argues that existing Western-centric international relations theories are insufficient to explain and predict the international politics of East Asia during its transitional period, and that theories tailored to East Asia are necessary.

The Need for East Asian International Relations Theory

There are two reasons why an East Asian international relations theory is needed. First, it is due to the complexity of East Asian international politics. Unlike the West, where modernity was entered in stages over a long period, East Asian countries experienced compressed modernization in a short time, and often due to external forces and logic. As a result, East Asian countries exhibit a unique phenomenon where pre-modernity, the transition to modernity, and modernity coexist. The experiences of imperialism and colonialism during the transition to modernity still influence the present and future of the region, and the efforts of North and South Korea to achieve unification beyond division can be seen as projecting the pre-1945 Korean Peninsula into the future. Second, the complex nature of 21st-century international politics, shaped by the major trends of globalization, informatization, and democratization, can be pointed out. 20th-century mainstream Western international relations theories, which take sovereign states as the basic unit of analysis and emphasize the 'anarchic state' of international politics, fail to explain the complex nature of 21st-century international politics. In the 21st century, in addition to sovereign states, various actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multinational corporations, and international organizations exist, and the principles of anarchy and new organizational principles of network governance coexist simultaneously. This is where the limitations of existing Western international relations theories become apparent. The author suggests the theory of complex organizational principles, requiring a longer temporal perspective and a spatial perspective beyond the West to overcome existing Western international relations theories.

From History to Theory

To theorize East Asian international politics, the author first examines the formation process of modern Western international politics from a historical sociological perspective. According to the historical sociological perspective, the modern international political order in the West did not begin with the so-called Peace of Westphalia but unfolded over a long period, from the Middle Ages through the transitional period from the Middle Ages to modernity, and into modernity, all under the long shadow of the Middle Ages. Similarly, the present is characterized by the coexistence of features from modernity and post-modernity, and as a transitional period, it inevitably possesses complex characteristics. Viewing East Asia through the same logic, East Asia has a greater overlap and coexistence of characteristics from different eras compared to the West. Due to the end of the Cold War, the organizational principles of the traditional order, which were submerged during the Cold War, are re-emerging in the East Asian region. The author argues that to understand the complexity of the 21st-century East Asian international order, one must return to history and first understand the characteristics of the organizational principles of each era. Accordingly, it examines the principle of China's 'tianxia' (天下) order, based on Confucian peace within the history of the pre-modern traditional era, as well as how neighboring countries like Joseon accommodated this 'tianxia' order. It also introduces the considerations and theoretical debates regarding the strategies of Qing, Joseon, and Japan in responding to Western imperialism during the transition from tradition to modernity. Furthermore, it addresses the international political phenomena that East Asia is currently experiencing during the transition from modernity to post-modernity.

Understanding East Asian International Relations Theory and Complex Organizational Principles

Considering East Asia's unique history, it is evident that the region has not only failed to complete the transition from tradition to modernity and from the Cold War to the post-Cold War era but is also simultaneously experiencing a transition to a post-modern era. The current East Asian region exhibits characteristics and organizational principles from various eras, including the pre-modern traditional era, the transition to modernity, modernity, and the transition to post-modernity. Therefore, East Asians are living in multiple eras simultaneously, and each country is compelled to pursue various goals in a complex manner through its foreign policy for survival. The author emphasizes the need to understand these complex organizational principles based on East Asia's history and to formulate a complex Korean foreign policy strategy accordingly.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: How to Theorize East Asian International Politics?

Chapter 2: Foundations for Theorization: Theory of Complex Organizational Principles and Sovereignty Theory

Chapter 3: Modern Transition in European International Politics

Chapter 4: Constituent Elements of East Asian International Politics Theory

Chapter 5: The East Asian Regional Order in the Pre-Modern Traditional Era

Chapter 6: The 21st Century Transition Beyond Modernity/Beyond Westphalia and East Asia

Chapter 7: Complex Organizational Principles in East Asia and South Korea's East Asia Strategy

For the convenience of readers, excerpts from the manuscript are made available.