HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY EAST ASIA

This course will deal with East Asia (or the Asia-Pacific region) in the context of contemporary economic and political arrangements. Particular attention will be dedicated to post WWII and post-Cold War developments in terms of social, political and environmental changes. The course aims at providing tools to better know and analyze historical phenomena in contemporary Asia, such as the re-emergence of China as a central power, the role of economic development and trade, regionalism, issues of democracy and human rights, ethnic and border issues, environmental decay and "green" development. The course will favour interaction over traditional methods and will require the students' active participation through weekly assignments.

At the end of this course, students will acquire or improve the following skills:
- analyzing historical and political phenomena, relevant to East Asia from a critical and historical perspective;
- retrieving and making us of relevant literature to identify and work on specific case studies;
- writing brief and long reports in Italian/English;
- speaking in public.

Good knowledge of global contemporary history and East Asian history is required. Elements of (mainland) Southeast Asian history are a plus.

L. 1-5: Introduction to the course; Post-WWII East Asia and the formation of postcolonial political regimes. War in Asia (Korea, Vietnam) and the US role in the region. Japan's role as regional power. China's economic development and the PRC's rise: comparing economic models.
L. 5-10: Contemporary China and its territorial disputes (South China Sea; BRI). The China-Japan-US triangle: hegemonic projects and economic and infrastructure development; Ruptures and continuities (the Korean issue).
L. 10-15: Southeast Asia between China and the US. Ethnicity, borders and governance. Myanmar and Vietnam in the regional context. EU's role in the Asia-Pacific.

For this course there will not be a unique reference manual
Students will be asked to read papers and or book excerpts on a regular basis.
The list below might be changed.

Book chapters:
Cha, Victor (2016). Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia, Princeton
Goh, Evelyn (2013). The Struggle for Order, Oxford University Press.
Goh, Evelyn (2016) (ed.) Rising China's Influence in Developing Asia, Oxford University Press.
Li & Shapiro (2020) China Goes Green. Polity.
Lintner, Bertil (2012) Great Game East. Harper Collins India.

Papers and reports:
- Arrighi, Giovanni (2007). States, Markets, and Capitalism, East and West, positions 152.
- Beeson, Mark (2002), Southeast Asia and the politics of vulnerability, Third World Quarterly 23 (3).
- Beeson & Islam (2005), Neo-liberalism and East Asia: Resisting the Washington Consensus, The Journal of Development Studies, 41.
- Clinton, Hillary (2011) America’s Pacific Century, Foreign Policy, Oct 11, 2011.
- Hanssen & Song (2019) Marketization in North Korea: Scenarios for economic, political and social change, Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
- Insisa & Pugliese (2020). The free and open Indo-Pacific versus the belt and road: spheres of influence and Sino-Japanese relations, The Pacific Review.
- Jones & Hameiri (2020) Debunking the Myth of ‘Debt-trap Diplomacy’: How Recipient Countries Shape China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Chatham House (https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/08/debunking-myth-debt-trap-diplomacy )
- Kang, David C. (2007). “Stability and Hierarchy in East Asian International Relations, 1300–1900 CE”. In Wohlforth, William; Kaufman, Stuart J.; Little, Richard (a cura di). The Balance of Power in World History.
- Lam, Peng Er (2007) Japan’s Quest for “Soft Power”: Attraction and Limitation, East Asia 24.
- Le, Hong Hiep (2012) Performance-based Legitimacy: The Case of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Doi Moi, Contemporary Southeast Asia 34 (2).
- Okano-Heijmans, Maaike (2012). Japan's ‘green’ economic diplomacy: environmental and energy technology and foreign relations, The Pacific Review 25 (3)
- Patrick, Stewart (2017) Trump and World Order: The Return of Self-Help, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2017.
- Summers, Tim (2008) China and the Mekong Region, China Perspectives 2008/3.
- Yasutomo, Dennis (1990) Why Aid? Japan as an "Aid Great Power", Pacific Affairs 62 (4).
- Woods, Kevin (2016) Ceasefire capitalism: military–private partnerships, resource concessions and military–state building in the Burma–China borderlands, Journal of Peasant Studies 38 (4).
- Zappa, Marco (2021). Gambling on the ‘Little Dragon’: Toward an EU-Japan strategic convergence on Vietnam? European University Institute, Global Governance Program EU-Asia Project, 2021/29.

For an introduction on the issues presented in the course, Italian speaking students might read the following:
- Caroli & Gatti (2017) Storia del Giappone, Laterza (capp. VII-XI)
- Samarani, Guido (2017) La Cina contemporanea (parte terza, capp. XVIII-XX), Einaudi.
- Fiori, Antonio (2010), L' Asia orientale. Dal 1945 ai giorni nostri, il Mulino.
- Tomba, Luigi (2002), Storia della Repubblica popolare cinese, Mondadori.
- Zappa, Marco (2020), Il Giappone nel sistema internazionale, Cafoscarina.

The final exam will consist in a written report and in an oral discussion. Students will be invited on a weekly basis to hand in reading summaries regarding the assigned readings.

Lectures will be conducted in a seminar-like manner. Discussion will be privileged over traditional approaches to classroom-taught lectures.

Italian

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development