China, Japan and the Quest for Leadership in East Asia

The leadership of powerful states in processes of regional institutionalization is a significant, though still widely ignored topic in the field of International Relations (IR). This study asks about the theoretical conditions of effective leadership in international institution- building, using China’s and Japan’s roles in East Asian regionalism as an empirical test case. It addresses the question of what actually happens when states perform the role of leader. Specifically, it focuses on the process of negotiating leadership claims, and different hypotheses are presented as to the requirements of effective leadership in international affairs. The findings point to the fact that leadership is effective and sustainable when foreign elites acknowledge the leader’s vision of international order and internalize it as their own. Leadership roles are often disputed and are constituted of shared ideas about self, other, and the world, relying on the intersubjective internalization of ideas, norms, and identities.Leadership, China, Japan, ASEAN+3, East Asian Summit (EAS)

Crises, Hegemony and Change in the International System: A Conceptual Framework

The paper tries to shed light on the conceptual link between international crises like the one following September 11, 2001, the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998, the end of the Cold War or major international conflicts, and processes of change in the international system. It argues that cultural structures rest on their continuous instantiation through social practices, thereby making them coterminous with process. Process is constituted by meaningful acts of social agents, and can thus only be grasped by analysing meaning. Meaning is transmitted by language. Meaningful language is never reducible to individual speakers; it is a social act. In the paper, I call this process discourse. Linking Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with the theory of hegemony developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, I will finally be able to show how hegemonic discourses serve as the nexus between crises and cultural structures and how they make cultural change possible.Crisis, change, discourse, poststructuralism, hegemony, international politics

North Korea and the Politics of Visual Representation

Within international discourses on security, North Korea is often associated with risk and danger, emanating paradoxically from what can be called its strengths-particularly military strength, as embodied by its missile and nuclear programs-and its weaknesses-such as its ever?present political, economic, and food crises-which are considered to be imminent threats to international peace and stability. We argue that images play an important role in these representations, and suggest that one should take into account the role of visual imagery in the way particular issues, actions, and events related to North Korea are approached and understood. Reflecting on the politics of visual representation means to examine the functions and effects of images, that is what they do and how they are put to work by allowing only particular kinds of seeing. After addressing theoretical and methodological questions, we discuss individual (and serial) photographs depicting what we think are typical examples of how North Korea is portrayed in the Western media and imagined in international politics.Visual representation, synecdoche, identity, North Korea

China, Japan and the Quest for Leadership in East Asia

The leadership of powerful states in processes of regional institutionalization is a significant, though still widely ignored topic in the field of International Relations (IR). This study asks about the theoretical conditions of effective leadership in international institution- building, using China’s and Japan’s roles in East Asian regionalism as an empirical test case. It addresses the question of what actually happens when states perform the role of leader. Specifically, it focuses on the process of negotiating leadership claims, and different hypotheses are presented as to the requirements of effective leadership in international affairs. The findings point to the fact that leadership is effective and sustainable when foreign elites acknowledge the leader’s vision of international order and internalize it as their own. Leadership roles are often disputed and are constituted of shared ideas about self, other, and the world, relying on the intersubjective internalization of ideas, norms, and identities.Die Untersuchung der Führungsrolle „mächtiger“ Staaten innerhalb internationaler Institutionen im Prozess der regionalen Institutionenbildung ist ein wichtiges, aber bisher vernachlässigtes Thema der Internationalen Beziehungen (IB). Ausgehend von einer Analyse der Rollen Japans und Chinas im ostasiatischen Regionalismus fragt die Studie nach den theoretischen Bedingungen effizienter Führung. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Prozess des Aushandelns von Führungsansprüchen. Dazu werden verschiedene Hypothesen formuliert und untersucht. Wichtigstes Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist der Befund, dass Führungsrollen insbesondere dann effizient ausgestaltet werden können, wenn die politischen Eliten potenzieller Kooperationspartner die Ordnungsvorstellungen von Führungsmächten akzeptieren und in eigene politische Maßnahmen integrieren. Führungsrollen sind oft umstritten und werden durch intersubjektive Ideen, Normen und Identitäten, d.h. bestimmte Vorstellungen über das „Selbst“ und das „Andere“, konstituiert

Power, leadership, and hegemony in international politics: the case of East Asia

"The article inquires into the conditions of effective leadership of states in international politics, and develops a framework for the study of so-called (new) regional powers such as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa in processes of regional institution-building. Various theoretical strands will be discussed as to the requirements of effective leadership in international affairs. Most importantly, the relationship between power, leadership and hegemony will be outlined. It is argued that the connection between leadership and hegemony is one of co-constitution. Leadership is necessarily based on hegemony, while hegemony can only be sustained through leadership. Furthermore, it will be shown that both leadership and hegemony are essentially political in character, whereas power has no such insinuation but has to be translated into leadership and hegemony through discursive means. Finally, the analysis asks for the preconditions of leadership in East Asia, using China's and Japan's roles in East Asian regionalism as an illustration." (author's abstract

The Effect of Biofeedback Training on Marital Communication and Physiological Arousal

It is well documented that the communication patterns of distressed couples are characterized by more negative and fewer positive behaviors. It has also been postulated that there is an association between physiological arousal and negative behaviors. According to this theory, as individuals become increasingly aroused, the number of negative behaviors also increases. This study explored the relationship between physiological arousal and marital communication. The three couples participating in the study received intensive biofeedback training with the hypothesis that an ability to control physiological arousal would result in improved marital communications. The Rapid Couples Interaction Scoring System was employed as a measurement of overt behavior, and physiological arousal was measured by electromyographic levels. The findings of this study suggest that, for some, biofeedback training is an effective intervention to improve marital communications

Japan diskutiert Abkehr von der "Friedensverfassung"

"Am 3. Mai 2007 feierte die japanische Verfassung ihren 60. Jahrestag. Sie wurde seit ihrem Inkrafttreten niemals geändert. Nun gerät sie jedoch immer stärker unter Reformdruck. Am 60. Jahrestag des Inkrafttretens der japanischen Verfassung bekräftigte Premierminister Abe seine Absicht, die Verfassung einer grundlegenden Revision zu unterziehen. Er will die Revision zum wichtigsten Thema seines Oberhauswahlkampfes in diesem Sommer machen. Zwar geht es bei der Revision auch um das Verwaltungssystem des Staates und die Beziehungen zwischen Zentralregierung und Präfekturen. Im Mittelpunkt der Reformdiskussion aber steht der 'Friedensartikel' 9 der Verfassung, der seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg die pazifistische Identität des Landes repräsentiert. Seit Beginn der neunziger Jahre wurde die Interpretation des Artikels 9 zur Ermöglichung von Auslandseinsätzen dermaßen ausgeweitet, dass inzwischen eine Reform unabdingbar scheint, nicht zuletzt seit der Entsendung japanischer Truppen in den Irak. Angesichts einer starken Polarisierung in Politik und Gesellschaft ist unklar, ob es in der Tat zu einer Verfassungsänderung kommen wird. Auch gibt es in China, Korea und Südostasien Befürchtungen wegen einer Rückkehr Japans zum Militarismus. In diesen Ländern wird die Akzeptanz einer Verfassungsänderung stark davon abhängen, wie sehr die nationalistische Komponente des japanischen Diskurses in den Vordergrund tritt." (Autorenreferat

Die japanische Nordkoreapolitik

Die koreanische Halbinsel ist weltweit der einzig verbliebene Schauplatz des Kalten Krieges. Nirgends ist eine Grenze zwischen zwei Staaten dermaßen undurchlässig und militarisiert; nirgends sonst zeigt der ideologische Antagonismus des Ost-West-Konflikts noch heute seine symbolhafte Wirkung so stark wie an der Grenze zwischen Nord- und Südkorea. Rund 1,5 Mio. Mann Bodentruppen stehen sich hier gegenüber. Nach der Desintegration der Sowjetunion vor zehn Jahren und dem Wegfall der damit verbundenen perzipierten kommunistischen Bedrohung ist die Situation auf der Halbinsel - neben den Unwägbarkeiten, die durch die Spannungen in der Taiwan-Straße immer wieder auftreten - der vorrangige Instabilitätsfaktor in der Region. Vor allem Japan weist in Verteidigungsweißbüchern und außenpolitischen Berichten immer wieder auf seine Besorgnis hinsichtlich der zukünftigen Entwicklung in Korea hin