Masahiro Matsumura

Quite disappointing. After outlining the concept of Japanese "state identity" vs. an expanding/centralizing or fragmenting China as a historical determinant of its foreign policy--where, separate from or at least not immediately determined by the Japanese cultural or national identity, the Japanese state has been what China would or could not, intentionally assuming the role Chinese tidal change left it--from the junior equal (Prince Shotoku) to that which unites in the face of threat (Kamakura) to the dick friend who slaps your face and calls it an intervention (the 1890s wars), for instance. The concept is promising and the history is fun as always but then he ruins it by going into a bog-standard "strategic options"-type discussion of what Japan might do if Chinese and American relative power/commitment to the region remain at certain levels that doesn't need the titular concept, doesn't mention India or Korea (!), and is just laughable "cliodynamics"-type silliness from the kind of person who thinks you can't do history if there's more than two "variables" because it's too "unpredictable." Working Papers by CEAP Visiting Fellows .… (más)