Università Roma Tre

CONTENT:

PART I – Introduction and description of the course

1) Introduction : East Asia as a regional entity (geopolitics and culture)
2) Historical overview : The pre-war order in East Asia (the Sino-centric order and the Japanese particularism) – Part I
3) Japan and China facing the first great challenge (Modernity)
4) Japan and China facing the second great challenge (Globalization)
5) Seminar : the construction of the Chinese political identity through the CCP rhetoric in the post-Maoist era
6) Revision
7) Mid-term.

PART II

1) Security, identity and stability in East Asia
2) China and the Japan-U.S. alliance - The security dilemma in East Asia
3) Ambiguous Japan: Japan’s national identity at century’s end
4) Power and purpose in Pacific East Asia
5) Revision
6) Final Exam

Students are expected to write a 2.500 words, theoretically informed, research paper on a topic of their choice which has been previously discussed with the instructor.

This course is taught in English.

Required readings:

1) Makoto Iokibe, The Diplomatic History of Postwar Japan, Routledge 2010;
2) Rebecca E. Karl, China's Revolutions in the Modern World, Verso Books 2020;
3) Michael Yehuda, The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific (Fourth and Revised Edition), Routledge 2019;
4) Akihiro Iwashita, Yong-Chool Ha et al., Geo-Politics in Northeast Asia, Routledge 2022;
5) Oliviero Frattolillo, A Cultural History of Postwar Japan, Routledge 2023.