A diverse range of area specialists are brought together here in the first volume which embraces such a geographically diverse treatment of the subregional system. The Central European Free Trade Area, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation scheme, ECOWAS in West Africa, MERCOSUR, the Association of Caribbean States, Chilean strategies, the "Greater China" project, ASEAN, and the East Asian Economic Caucus are all explored in order to mount a case for a "new International Political Economy" perspective in the understanding of subregional cooperation.

The intertwined issues of Japanese identity' and normality' are at the centre of the tension between internal and external pressures on Japanese defence and security policies. With chapters on peace thought, the militarisation and demilitarisation of language as well as the hard' aspects of the Japanese military build up in the 1980s and the response to the Gulf War in the 1990s, this study challenges many of the preconceived notions on Japanese defence and security policies and the policy making process in Japan.

The Internationalization of Japan provides the English-speaking reader with the opportunity to hear what some of Japan's leading social scientists and other commentators have to say about the internationalization of their country as well as their country's impact overseas. The topic is of extreme importance now as the international community demands a greater Japanese contribution to international society as well as changes in Japan to facilitate foreign access. The book discusses the internationalization of politics, economy and society. Topics of special interest include the...

In this study the views of Japan's leading experts on the globalization of Japanese business, management and industrial relations explain how traditional Japanese-style management is responding to the changes following the collapse of the bubble economy. The areas covered include the changes made in management itself inside Japan and also how it is adapting itself when transferred overseas. The book demonstrates how management is moving towards a hybrid type in overseas operations and towards a western-style in Japan, where contractual principles are beginning to be given greater weight.

The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation reveals the key dimensions of Japanese globalisation today by analysing both its inward and outward manifestations. This is the first book to examine fully the issue of globalisation in relation to Japan. Organised in three parts, The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation reveals the meanings and implications of the study of Japan's globalization in the context of on-going debates about globalisation in general. The book demonstrates how, despite the passing of the 'Japanese model', Japan can still provide significant...

Japan's Contested Constitution is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Japanese domestic politics and the international role of Japan. Subjects covered include;
* the no war, pacifist' clause
* tension between the constitution and the US-Japan security treaty
* the political import of the constitution for Japanese political parties
* the significance of the constitution for the Japanese people

From the beginning of the year 2000, Constitutional Research Councils have been set up in both Houses of the National Diet and the structural and symbolic questions of national identity and purpose are merging in debate on constitutional reform. The Constitution defines the nature of the Japanese polity and constrains Japan's military role in the world. The opening of this debate should play a crucial role in shaping the nature of the realignment of domestic political forces and the alternative international roles Japan may pursue in the new era. This book makes available in English the four...

This volume provides an up-to-date, coherent and theoretically informed examination of Okinawa from the perspective of political economy and society. It combines a focus on structure and subjectivity as a way to analyze Okinawa, Okinawans and their relationship with global, regional and national structures. The book draws on a range of disciplines to provide insights into both the contemporary and historical place of Okinawa and the Okinawans. The first half of the book examines Okinawa as part of the global, regional and national structures which impose constraints as well as offer...

Britian and Japan in the Contemporary World provides up-to-date analyses of these two countries in terms of economics, politics, security and identity on the global, regional, subnational and civic levels.
The book moves beyond an analysis of state-to-state relations between Britain and Japan by examining the role of civil society in the relationship and analyzing the way the two countries deal with common issues, such as the 'special relationship' both maintain with the US; the relationship with the continents that both of these island nations border; the question of the degree...

Leading specialists from Europe and Japan examine the institutional mechanisms of governance at the global level and provide concrete evidence of the role Japan plays in these institutions. An excellent introduction to the concept of global governance, the volume analyzes how global governance actually works through the global institutional mechanisms of governance. It provides an up-to-date and contemporary analysis of the six most important global institutions, namely:

• the Group of 7/8
• the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
• the World...