Continuity and change in guanxi networks in East Asia

That view of the history of maritime South East Asia which fixed a rigid dividing line in 1511 or 1600, and regarded the assertion of European dominance in the area as marking the frontier between traditional and modern history, has long ago been discredited and discarded. It led to the treatment of the earlier history of Malaya and Indonesia as a mere prelude to the coming of the Europeans, or at least as an era without relevance to later events, to which special criteria must be applied. The later history was treated predominantly as the story of European activities and rivalries, and purely western criteria were applied even to indigenous themes. All this is now regarded as unscientific, and labelled ‘Europe-centric’. Few, if any, contemporary historians would challenge this judgment so far as the internal history of Malaya and Indonesia and their component parts are concerned, and, though there is still ample room for discussion as to its application in practice, this paper does not seek to re-open the debate. It is concerned not so much with the development of maritime South East Asian society, or with the history of individual states within what are now Malaysia and Indonesia, as with the relations of these states with each other.

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Competing Visions of Japan’s Relations with Southeast Asia, 1938-1960

10.5771/9783748904915 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Heiko Lang

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

East Asia ◽

Comprehensive Analysis ◽

The Political ◽

South East Asia ◽

Regional Strategy ◽

Doctoral Studies ◽

Continuity And Change ◽

History Of ◽

The Military

This book offers the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of the Japanese debate on the nation’s South East Asia policy from 1938–1941 and 1952–1960. In a detailed discourse analysis, it compares competing arguments offered by business circles, the military, the political and diplomatic elites, and intellectuals on Japan’s regional strategy. This book advances the field of the history of Japan’s diplomatic thinking, not only by addressing the issue of continuity and change in the discourse on Japan’s relations with South East Asia, but also by demonstrating how this debate served to explore more fundamental questions about Japan’s identity, its relations with Western nations and its stance on Asian solidarity. Heiko Lang (PhD) completed his doctoral studies at the Universities of Tokyo and Munich and is currently teaching international relations at Hosei University, Tokyo.

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