International Politics and East Asia

Course Overview

This is not a traditional area studies course on East Asia, but rather a disciplinary degree that focuses on the region for its case studies. The degree combines a strong disciplinary and regional expertise. Our Department has drawn together one of the largest research and teaching clusters on East and South-East Asia in Europe. Many of these staff contribute to the delivery of the MA, so you will find them giving lectures or supervising your thesis on Asia focused topics. Our IPEA graduates have ascended into highly competitive internships (e. g. UN in Thailand and UK Cabinet Office) ; roles in international business, NGOs and think-tanks; and doctoral, level study at Warwick and other top institutions, The taught MA in IPEA at the University of Warwick is one of the leading postgraduate programmes of its kind. PAIS has probably the greatest concentration of disciplinary based East Asia experts in the UK and Europe, and is home to the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation, researching issues of Asia-Pacific and East Asia regionalism. The MA in International Politics and East Asia at Warwick gives students the opportunity to approach and answer these questions from a disciplinary basis. This is not a traditional area studies course on East Asia, but rather a disciplinary degree that focuses on the region for its case studies. The degree thus offers unique advantages over other degrees and traditional area studies: strong disciplinary expertise combined with genuine regional expertise. Programme content, East Asia-s emergence as the most dynamic region in the global political economy continues despite a series of crises since the early 1990s. If anything, the crises reinvigorated the study of the international relations and political economy of East Asia. Instead of just focusing on business and economics, the crises highlighted the politics of international economic relations, the social, political, and security consequences of economic crises, the impact of globalisation on the region and existing development paradigms, and the need for greater regional cooperation to cope with future economic shocks. At the same time, the region has been faced with a series of major crises and challenges in the political and security dimensions, which are demanding of greater study by students of international relations. How will the region accommodate the rise of a more economically and militarily assertive China? Is the US declining as a superpower in the region, or will it reassert its hegemony post-9/11 and against China? Does Japan still have designs upon regional economic leadership, and will it come to play a bigger military role in the region? Are North and South Korea on a collision course over the nuclear issue or on the road to peaceful reunification? How does a -non-state- like Taiwan conduct international relations? Will territorial disputes in the South China Sea and between Japan and China disputes lead to military conflict? Is APEC now effectively dead, to be replaced instead by an all-East Asian ASEAN 3 or East Asian Community regional integration project? What economic, social and political challenges do states in East Asia face?