Asia in World Politics: Past, Present, and Future

Quick growth of Chinese economy heralded a shift in the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific. In recent years China’s growing assertiveness, manifested by growing military presence in South China Sea, has been perceived as a major security challenge by most of the countries in the region. This situation is not simply a result of the recent changes in economic and political situation in the country, but rather a manifestation of a long history of building economic and political ties in the region and materialization of Chinese ambitions. It seems that China is finally able to materialize its long-time political ambitions in the region. Other security challenges like the nuclear program of North Korea and changing political situation in Myanmar attested to the increasing uncertainty of security situation in Asia which affects the global geopolitical landscape. Change of power in the United States, and Election of Donald Trump as American president in November 2016 was a signal of another shift in the regional security situation. New president following the slogan “America First” launched a process of renegotiating existing security treaties with Asian allies and presented a mare aggressive stance on China which very soon turned into a serious trade conflict. This monograph illustrates different aspects of these complex power shifts and their influence on the current geopolitical situation in the region.

Marcin Socha, Introduction 7 Domestic and foreign policy changes in China 9 Alessandro Albana, Beijing turns to the seas. Combining assertive postures with cooperation 11 Marcin Przychodniak, Changing trajectory of China–U.S. relations. Background of current disputes 27 Adrian Brona, Selecting cadres: former members of the CCYL in the 19th Central Committee of CPC 41 Gabriel Hasík, Income inequality in today’s China 55 Historical ambitions of China and current international landscape 71 Alicja Bachulska, Politics of memory for a New Era? Mainland Chinese historical memory, nationalism, and their impact on Chinese international behaviour 73 Yumei Chi, Silk Belt between Lion and Dragon: Lyon (France)–China ties 87 Mark Hoskin, The Lost Heritage of the South China Sea. Trade, Fishing, and Religion as Expressions of Popular Sovereignty 121 Sitthiphon Kruarattikan, Sino-Cuban relations from 1964 to 1995: conflict and reconciliation 151 Responses to current security challenges in Asia-Pacific 173 David Jervis, The “Sins” of American foreign policy illustrated in the North Korean nuclear crisis 175 Andrzej Demczuk, Solving North Korean missile crisis 195 Karol Żakowski, Japan’s policy towards North Korea under the Second Abe Administration 213 Agnieszka Batko, The promise of neo-functionalism beyond Europe: the case of Japan–South Korea relations 229 Michał Lubina, An unfulfilled relationship: US–Burma/Myanmar political relations 247