The United States and East Asia have had a love-hate relationship. The US
found itself at war in East Asia several times during the twentieth century
and still has 100,000 soldiers stationed in the region. Apart from Cuba, the
world's only surviving Communist states are in East Asia. The level of the
US's trade with its Pacific partners now outpaces that with its Atlantic
partners; while generally beneficial, the fruits of these economic links
have not been distributed evenly. And while East Asia has enriched the US's
culture, many East Asians resent America's attempt to "force" its values on
them. This course provides a broad overview of the zigs and zags in US-East
Asian security, political, economic and cultural relations, with an emphasis
on ties since World War II. We will examine the influence of identity
formation and culture, economic and security interests and power, and formal
institutions on both the US's bilateral relations with some key countries
(Japan, China and Korea) and its relations with the region generally.

It is recommended students already have taken a course on either East Asia
or international relations. Tentative requirements include 125-150 pages of
reading per week, 1 short analysis paper, 1 research paper, 2 quizzes, and a
final exam.