Cross Currents: Regionalism and Nationalism in Northeast Asia.

Cross Currents: Regionalism and Nationalism in Northeast Asia. Edited by Gi-Wook Shin and Daniel C. Sneider. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007. 304 pp. $24.95. Paper.

Through a compendium of diverse articles, Cross Currents assesses Northeast Asia's key challenge: to achieve the peaceful coexistence of nationalism and regionalism. This premise granted, the authors speculate on how to better shape and manage the interaction between these seemingly contradictory forces. Much of the existing literature on Asian regionalism has carried a more skeptical view of the region's future. Yet these thirteen essays offer positive answers, arguing to different degrees that the interplay of national and regional forces is likely to create a dynamic in Northeast Asia that bodes well for economic and political cooperation in the future.

In the introductory chapter, Shin recaps current East Asian community building. He contends that unresolved history is the main source of rising nationalism, which impedes further regionalism. But he optimistically predicts that a shared vision for the future may overcome hereditary enmity. In his view, strong political leadership and a more active US engagement should stimulate common understanding of the past, the first key step toward Northeast Asian reconciliation.

The collection is divided into four sections. The first offers three different analyses of the future of Northeast Asia. Vinod K. Aggarwal and Min Gyo Koo cite distrust and fear between China and Japan as the main source of political tension in the region. They argue that through fostering economic and security interdependence, broad reconciliation can be promoted. David Kang echoes this sentiment asserting that there will be no stable relationships among Northeast Asian countries without political reconciliation. Similarly, Paul Evans offers that although Northeast Asia has long showed an "antiregional" attitude, ongoing efforts to find common dialogue, especially in security fields, will lead China and Japan to more economic and social openness.

The second section tackles the issue from Asian perspectives. Feng Zhu posits that the future of the Northeast Asian community largely depends on China's ability to preserve regional order. Somewhat at odds with other Japanese interpretations, Makio Miyagawa analyzes regionalism through a broader prism. Challenging some skeptical views on Northeast Asian motives on regionalism, he contends that East Asia's community-building activities are not a reaction to outside intervention but a values-driven contribution to reducing world conflicts. The Korean perspective on regional cooperation offered by Su Hoon Lee argues that South Korea has a particularly important role to play in making a Northeast Asian community viable, although dependent on South-North Korean reconciliation to bring permanent peace to the region.

The third section deals with the overarching theme of the volume: the impact of China-Japan rivalry on Northeast Asian regional cooperation. Mark Peattie acknowledges that deep-seated Sino-Japanese mistrust is a serious obstacle to stable relations among Northeast Asian countries, but he urges more open public discussion on historical memories to reduce historical animosities. Yinhong Shi and Tomoyuki Kojima assess the "rising China" in the Northeast Asian regional framework. As the simultaneous rise of neighboring powers only aggravates mutual hostility, Shi contends that Japan should accept the fact that China is a dominant economic and military force. Alternatively, Kojima emphasizes the advantage of a multilateral approach as the best way to cope with the Chinese hegemonistic "threat." Scott Snyder looks at the Sino-Japanese rivalry through the Korean prism. He offers that the future of the region depends on how Korea manages its security while promoting inter-Korean reconciliation without jeopardizing regional stability or strategic relations with the United States.

The final chapter highlights the US role in Asian regionalism. Daniel Sneider argues that the United States has shown and will maintain a lukewarm attitude toward the development of the Northeast Asian regionalism since it has much more to gain by keeping to bilateral alliance systems. Randall Schriver urges US policymakers to take ascendant China not as a threat but as an opportunity to actively get involved in the region. Michael Armacost also expresses concern about US passivity in fostering greater regional integration. Although he acknowledges that the current US administration has more urgent global issues to handle, he still hopes that the United States will pay closer attention to the region, as it is "the locus of the most dangerous Cold War legacies, a divided Korea and the Taiwan issue."

Although the contributors share the assumption that nationalism and regionalism will peacefully coexist, readers are still left wondering how. Do nationalistic forces block further regionalization? Or are regional forces strong enough to counter emotional nationalism? This "chicken v. egg" conundrum leads readers to consider that there may in fact be well-established sociocultural or economic regionalism, but with continuous and unavoidable nationalistic historico-political weight to balance. The concept of harmony of the dual forces lies at the heart of the book. Although it would be ambitious indeed to solve these matters in one volume, the reader is left craving more elaboration on why Northeast Asian people become so emotionally nationalistic when it comes to history issues. Also, some juxtaposition to other models, such as European regional integration processes that have successfully resolved historical issues, would seem beneficial to supporting the thesis.

Another weak point of the book is that while several authors successfully explore major impediments to further regionalization, they do not provide readers with concrete policy suggestions. Overall, the anthology leaves the impression that the United States, as the leading hegemonic power, holds the key to the future direction of Northeast Asian regionalism. While guidance and even external pressure can be helpful, a more constructive discussion in the book might have been to elaborate on the roles Asian political leaders and their people, the ultimate beneficiaries, must play. Regionalism may be an inevitable and irreversible phenomenon in our times. But it is up to China, Japan, and Korea to decide whether to take full advantage of these "cross currents."

Academics can certainly help policymakers and the larger public gain perspective. Cross Currents is a worthwhile read for those who wish to contribute to Northeast Asian reconciliation, offering an appraisal of the obstacles and the mutual advantages of thinking regionally. This book offers diverse, sometimes controversial perspectives, but its featured contributors all nonetheless evaluate rightly the potential power of regionalism as the way to contain unhealthy nationalism. Indeed, perhaps through concerted and well-informed regional cooperation, and further work inspired by studies such as Cross Currents, the past can be overcome and peace brought to the region.

Seung-hoon Heo

Department of lnternational History and Politics

Graduate Institute of International and

Development Studies, Geneva