NORTHEAST ASIAN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND ALTERNATIVE KOREAN FUTURES

This essay focuses on an evaluation of current trends and policy contingencies in Northeast Asian international politics, with a particular concern for the people and governance of Korea. The scope of the essay is relatively large-scale and longterm, so that policies and prospects can be comparatively discussed and evaluated in a framework that acknowledges their significance for the Korean people. Several themes recur throughout: the need for leadership with vision and purpose, the need for better integration of social-psychological principles into foreign policy decision making analysis, and the use of new decision-aiding technologies coupled with deep historical knowledge. In reviewing recent policies and trends for this essay, as well as some of the voluminous analytic literature on the politics of this region, it struck me that such considerations were often only implicit in the arguments made for various policies and trends. Thus, a secondary purpose to this essay is to make a small effort at striking something of balance between these more enduring themes and analysis of specific, Northeast Asia present policy exigencies. Each theme is developed in terms of contemporary theory, current history, and policy. Among those examined are “offensive realism,” “power transitions,” and “hawk engagement” in the context of economic, financial and military systems’ globalization.