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Matteo Dian
I am a Senior Assistant Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. Previously, I held visiting appointments at the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Johns Hopkins SAIS, the European University Institute. I earned my PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore (Italian Institute of Human and Social Sciences) in Florence.
My research focuses on International Relations of East Asia, Japanese and Chinese foreign policies as well as US foreign policies towards the Asia Pacific Region.
I am author of The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance: The Eagle and the Chrysanthemum (Elsevier, Oxford 2014); Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy (Elsevier, Oxford 2017); New Regional Initiatives in China's Foreign Policy The Incoming Pluralism of Global Governance (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018, with Silvia Menegazzi). My research has also been published, among others, on International Relations, International Politics and Pacific Review.
My research focuses on International Relations of East Asia, Japanese and Chinese foreign policies as well as US foreign policies towards the Asia Pacific Region.
I am author of The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance: The Eagle and the Chrysanthemum (Elsevier, Oxford 2014); Contested Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy (Elsevier, Oxford 2017); New Regional Initiatives in China's Foreign Policy The Incoming Pluralism of Global Governance (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018, with Silvia Menegazzi). My research has also been published, among others, on International Relations, International Politics and Pacific Review.
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Today an increasingly “normal” Japan is no longer able to resist US pressure for a more active role in the alliance. Moreover, China’s military rise renders Tokyo ever more dependent on US forces. This process, often confused with a “new militarisation of Japan”, is rather the reflex of a growing sense of weakness and of a newfound perception of vulnerability and dependence on the American ally. The first two chapters introduce the alliances in theory and the US-Japan alliance in the 1960s. The subsequent three chapters cover the US-Japan alliance from the 1970s to the modern day, the American pivot to Asia and a conclusion. - "
Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea’s foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea’s foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia.
An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea’s growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.
This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored.
regional initiatives promoted during the Xi era 2 . It envisions the creation of a new Silk Road linking China with Central Asia and Russia, up to Turkey and Eastern Europe, and a Maritime Silk Road linking the South of China with South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, up to the Mediterranean. The project foresees the strength ening of commercial links, as well as the construction of new infrastructures, such as high-speed transcontinental railways, and new ports.
With OBOR, China promotes a new paradigm for regional economic governance, aimed at advancing Chinese interests, norms and values. Th rough OBOR, China aims at proposing an alternative to current approaches to global and regional governance, largely rooted in norms and approaches originating in and promoted by the West.
Th is article will analyse the OBOR initiative from three main perspectives. Firstly, it will describe the narrative that helped the Chinese leadership to conceptualize and legitimize the One Belt One Road Initiative. In particular, it will describe how Beijing adopted several neo-Confucian and post-colonial ideas to legitimize the role of China as
“natural leader” of the Asian region, and to present its blueprint for regional governance as an element of stability and mutual cooperation, rather than as an attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the continent. In the second section, the article will describe which economic interests China aims to fulfil through this project. Firstly, OBOR aims to contribute to the development of Western provinces that were largely left behind by the export-led development of the last
decades. Secondly, it will favour the Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that receive the lion’s share of the infrastructural projects, and will be able to accelerate their “going global” strategy. Finally, OBOR represents the prosecution of the trend defined as “ad -
vancement of the state, retreat of the private” (guojin mintui), namely, the consolidation of the state control on strategic economic sectors.
In the final section, the article will discuss the possible political dilemmas generated by this initiative, including the likely contradiction between the expansion of the Chinese role and the maintenance of key foreign policy principles, such as non-interference and respect of other states’ sovereignty.
Second, it highlights how the process of contestation over a country’s memory is fundamentally intertwined with attempts to legitimise or resist key foreign policy decisions in response to
contemporaneous dilemmas that force a confrontation with historical traditions. This is illustrated through an analysis of the Yoshida Doctrine’s problematic compromise between conservative and progressive traditions of thought about Japan’s role in the Second World War, beginning with
the period of US Occupation, moving through the Cold War years and ending with the death of the Shōwa Emperor in 1989. Finally, it studies the ‘normalisation’ of Japanese foreign policy during the post-Cold War Heisei period, the dilemmas caused by the debate over wartime memory and the effort to achieve reconciliation with other Asian nations. The central argument is that post-war Japanese foreign policy has generally represented an uneasy and evolving compromise between the conservative and progressive traditions.
internationalization of the renminbi and China’s recent attempts to build regional institutions in the economic and financial realm centred on its leadership. The
article describes how Beijing is increasingly capable of dictating terms of political and economic interaction to its partners.
major component of the strategy of rebalancing. Through the TPP, the Obama administration aimed at achieving several objectives: (1) ‘locking in’ an America friendly form of free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the Asia Pacific region; (2) reaffirming Washington’s capacity to shape the rules and norms of the international order; (3) keeping the region open to US influence and preventing China from creating a network of international institutions based on its leadership. The likely rejection of the agreement would
dramatically diminish the possibility of achieving those objectives, weakening the foundations of the US-led order in Asia.
Today an increasingly “normal” Japan is no longer able to resist US pressure for a more active role in the alliance. Moreover, China’s military rise renders Tokyo ever more dependent on US forces. This process, often confused with a “new militarisation of Japan”, is rather the reflex of a growing sense of weakness and of a newfound perception of vulnerability and dependence on the American ally. The first two chapters introduce the alliances in theory and the US-Japan alliance in the 1960s. The subsequent three chapters cover the US-Japan alliance from the 1970s to the modern day, the American pivot to Asia and a conclusion. - "
Focusing on non-material factors in shaping the decision-making processes of primary actors, such as traditions, beliefs, and identities, this book begins by analysing the emergence of the "Asian Paradox" and explores how different political traditions have influenced South Korea’s foreign and security policies. In the second part (from Chapter 4), this book goes on to deal directly with the key issues in South Korea’s foreign policy today, with an emphasis on the progressive and conservative approaches to the challenges the country faces. This includes the North Korean threat, the alliance with the U.S., relations with China and Russia, the complicated relationship with Japan, and the emerging role of South Korea outside of Northeast Asia.
An innovative study of the domestic sources of South Korean foreign policy, The Korean Paradox investigates South Korea’s growing role at both regional and global levels. As such, it will be useful to students and scholars of Korean Studies, International Relations and East Asian Studies more generally.
This book examines how the US is dealing with the challenge of reconciling its global interests with regional dynamics and how it is able to produce and sustain order at the system level and within regional subsystems. The book comprises four parts, the first of which addresses global issues such as nonproliferation, trade, and freedom of the seas. US policies in these areas are carefully analyzed, considering whether and how they have been differently implemented at the regional level. The remaining parts of the book focus on the US posture toward specific regions: Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. The policies adopted by the US to confront the most relevant challenges in each region are identified, and the ways in which policies in a specific region influence or are influenced by challenges in another region are explored.
regional initiatives promoted during the Xi era 2 . It envisions the creation of a new Silk Road linking China with Central Asia and Russia, up to Turkey and Eastern Europe, and a Maritime Silk Road linking the South of China with South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, up to the Mediterranean. The project foresees the strength ening of commercial links, as well as the construction of new infrastructures, such as high-speed transcontinental railways, and new ports.
With OBOR, China promotes a new paradigm for regional economic governance, aimed at advancing Chinese interests, norms and values. Th rough OBOR, China aims at proposing an alternative to current approaches to global and regional governance, largely rooted in norms and approaches originating in and promoted by the West.
Th is article will analyse the OBOR initiative from three main perspectives. Firstly, it will describe the narrative that helped the Chinese leadership to conceptualize and legitimize the One Belt One Road Initiative. In particular, it will describe how Beijing adopted several neo-Confucian and post-colonial ideas to legitimize the role of China as
“natural leader” of the Asian region, and to present its blueprint for regional governance as an element of stability and mutual cooperation, rather than as an attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the continent. In the second section, the article will describe which economic interests China aims to fulfil through this project. Firstly, OBOR aims to contribute to the development of Western provinces that were largely left behind by the export-led development of the last
decades. Secondly, it will favour the Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that receive the lion’s share of the infrastructural projects, and will be able to accelerate their “going global” strategy. Finally, OBOR represents the prosecution of the trend defined as “ad -
vancement of the state, retreat of the private” (guojin mintui), namely, the consolidation of the state control on strategic economic sectors.
In the final section, the article will discuss the possible political dilemmas generated by this initiative, including the likely contradiction between the expansion of the Chinese role and the maintenance of key foreign policy principles, such as non-interference and respect of other states’ sovereignty.
Second, it highlights how the process of contestation over a country’s memory is fundamentally intertwined with attempts to legitimise or resist key foreign policy decisions in response to
contemporaneous dilemmas that force a confrontation with historical traditions. This is illustrated through an analysis of the Yoshida Doctrine’s problematic compromise between conservative and progressive traditions of thought about Japan’s role in the Second World War, beginning with
the period of US Occupation, moving through the Cold War years and ending with the death of the Shōwa Emperor in 1989. Finally, it studies the ‘normalisation’ of Japanese foreign policy during the post-Cold War Heisei period, the dilemmas caused by the debate over wartime memory and the effort to achieve reconciliation with other Asian nations. The central argument is that post-war Japanese foreign policy has generally represented an uneasy and evolving compromise between the conservative and progressive traditions.
internationalization of the renminbi and China’s recent attempts to build regional institutions in the economic and financial realm centred on its leadership. The
article describes how Beijing is increasingly capable of dictating terms of political and economic interaction to its partners.
major component of the strategy of rebalancing. Through the TPP, the Obama administration aimed at achieving several objectives: (1) ‘locking in’ an America friendly form of free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the Asia Pacific region; (2) reaffirming Washington’s capacity to shape the rules and norms of the international order; (3) keeping the region open to US influence and preventing China from creating a network of international institutions based on its leadership. The likely rejection of the agreement would
dramatically diminish the possibility of achieving those objectives, weakening the foundations of the US-led order in Asia.
uncertainty regarding the US commitment to uphold and strengthen the current international rule-based order. This chapter states that the rise of populism that favoured the ascent of Trump has several fundamental consequences. Firstly, liberal internationalism and Wilsonianism, who constituted the basic ideational foundations for the US foreign policy narrative, appear to be rejected as the intellectual product of a distant cosmopolitan elite. Secondly, the Trump administration seems
to rely on Jacksonianism to look for alternative ideas to reinterpret the US role in the current international order. Finally, this led to the rise of a “ A-moral transactionalism ” , an approach that is likely to lead to put into doubt several key pillars of the US international engagement to obtain short-term economic gains.
rise of Sino-centric regional order, based on Chinese leadership and “ State capitalist ” practices. The Trans-Paci fi c Partnership (TTP) represented a key pillar of that strategy. The chapter concludes that a reversal of the strategy of rebalancing, particularly in the realm of regional economic governance, might lead to a progressive decline of the American in fl uence in the region.
rapporti bilaterali tra gli Stati Uniti e il Giappone, storicamente
il principale partner politico e strategico nell’area. Da un lato
contribuisce all’accelerazione dei trend che hanno caratterizza-
to l’evoluzione dell’alleanza dopo la ne del sistema bipolare,
inducendo Tokyo a ricoprire un ruolo sempre più attivo nella
fornitura di sicurezza e deterrenza nella zona. Dall’altro, il Pi-
vot contribuisce a modicare il potere contrattuale giapponese
nei rapporti bilaterali con Washington, erodendo la capacità di
resistere alle pressioni americane per una suddivisione più equa
dei compiti nell’alleanza.
Even if the purpose of the US bases has been someway similar, ‘base politics’ have had a very different impact on Italian and Japanese domestic and foreign policies.
In Japan, the opposition has been constant and intense, while in Italy US military presence was in essence welcome. In this chapter, I will highlight how dynamics related to local, domestic and international politics determined these different approaches to the presence of US military bases in Italy and Japan.
despite high levels of economic interdependence, remain constrained by an ongoing security dilemma and by the lack of reconciliation over ‘history issues.’ Moreover, China and Japan are starting to diverge also
on how to promote institutionalization in the realm of economic governance.
governo di Abe sia sul piano della sicurezza sia su quello economico.
Difficoltà aggravate da alcune scelte di politica estera di Trump
America's increasing strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific has been one of the distinctive features of the foreign and security policy of the Obama administration. This renewed attention has been determined by both the global power shift towards Asia, caused by the rapid economic development of Asian countries, and by the new challenges the region poses to American primacy and the present international order.
The relevance of this book resides in several factors. Firstly it presents a detailed and informed, yet accessible, exploration of the policy responses to the Japanese Great Stagnation. Secondly it helps locating the Abenomics, prime minister Abe’s economic blueprint, both within the Japanese political and economic debate and in the global marketplace of ideas. Thirdly, it presents a coherent argument in favour of the Abenomics and its economic rationale. This is particularly significant because
it entails also arguing against the current international academic and political consensus. Finally, it contributes to the field of ideational approaches to political economy. This is another important way in which the book aims at differentiating itself from the mainstream in its field.