The Balance of Power, Globalization, And Democracy: International Relations Theory in Northeast Asia‪.‬

The end of the Cold War has given rise to a wide-ranging debate about the future of international relations in the Asia-Pacific. This debate has been difficult to assess in part because of the elusive quality of the outcomes being explored, such as whether the region is characterized by "stability" or "rivalry." What exactly do we want to explain? In Northeast Asia we must be concerned in the first instance with the prospects for militarized crises and war. (1) These risks are most likely to arise around two enduring conflicts: across the Taiwan Strait, and on the Korean Peninsula. Yet we clearly think of "stability" and "security" as encompassing something more than the mere absence of crises or war. A stable environment also implies shared beliefs and expectations. To what extent are parties fundamentally divided over the legitimacy of the political and economic status quo? What is the subjective probability that conflicts might be resolved by resort to force rather than through cooperative means?