Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts The Great Divergence? Economic Integration and Political Conflict in Asia

The Great Divergence? Economic Integration and Political Conflict in Asia

Date : Tue., October 08, 2013 8:30 am to 3:00 pm Category : Asia Conference, Category : FPRI in D.C.

Economic integration has become extensive within Asia and between Asia and other regions, including the United States. But the political-security side of the story has been very different. PRC trade initiatives have faced skepticism for their possibly political motives, including cultivating economic dependence that can be used for political leverage on many issues. The United States has pursued the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a means to promote trade agreements among a group that includes mostly market democracies. China has been excluded, in large part on “values” grounds and views the TPP as potentially a U.S.-led device for containment and a means to counter China’s growing dominance in an economically integrated East Asian Region.

More broadly, expanding economic ties between many Asian states—and even the United States—and China have coexisted with growing frictions and expectations that more serious conflict was possible, likely or inevitable in relations with China.  Reflecting and contributing to this pattern have been: disputes in the South China, East China and Yellow Seas, uncertainty in Taiwan about what would happen if cross-Strait negotiations turned to political issues and sovereignty, “hedging” strategies by many Asian states that have sought closer security ties with the U.S. in response to a more powerful and assertive China, and the much-discussed U.S. “strategic pivot” or “rebalancing” toward Asia.

This conference will address: whether the apparent disjunction in economic and political-security affairs is real, significant and likely to endure; what the pattern portends for international relations in Asia; and how the U.S. and regional states could respond to protect and advance their interests.

Topics and Speakers

Registration and Refrshments

10/08/2013 - 08:30am to 08:45am

Welcoming Remarks

10/08/2013 - 08:45am to 09:am
Jacques deLisle

Director - Asia Program

Stephen Cozen Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania

Japan, China and the East Asian Region

10/08/2013 - 09:00am to 10:15am
June Teufel Dreyer

Senior Fellow, FPRI

Professor of Political Science, University of Miami/Coral Gables

Gilbert Rozman

Senior Fellow, FPRI

Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Princeton University

Break

10/08/2013 - 10:15am to 10:30am

Beyond the Great Powers: Southeast Asia and Taiwan

10/08/2013 - 10:30am to 11:45am
Felix K. Chang

Senior Fellow, FPRI

Scott Kastner

Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Maryland

Jacques deLisle

Director - Asia Program

Stephen Cozen Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania

Harry Harding

10/08/2013 - 11:45am to 12:45pm
Harry Harding

Dean, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia

U.S.-China Relations and U.S. Policy

10/08/2013 - 12:45 to 01:45pm
Robert Sutter

Professor of Practice of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Harry Harding

Dean, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia

Vincent Wei-Cheng Wang

Senior Fellow, FPRI

Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

India and South Asia

10/08/2013 - 01:45pm to 03:00pm
Sumit Ganguly

Senior Fellow, FPRI

Rabindranath Tagore Professor of Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University

Deepa Ollapally

Research Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Associate Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The George Washington University

Location

Venue

Reserve Officers Association

One Constitution Avenue, NE DC Washington 20002

Registration links

Register Deadline

Tue., October 8, 2013

Related Program(s)

Asia Program

This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are reqiuired.

RSVP: events@fpri.org
To Register for the Webcast: Email webcast@fpri.org