The European Union and East Asia: Interregional linkages in a changing global system

Book abstract:

This work brings together a collection of papers by a wide ranging group of contributors who collectively address the ways in which patterns of life within one region are shaped by the contacts with the other region and more specifically the interchange between the European Union and East Asia.

The editors provide a helpful Introduction in which they set the agenda for the debate and anticipate elements of the contributions that follow. Part II addresses the cultural dimension of Asia-Europe relations with commentary on the post-colonial nature of those relationships. Part III examines the material linkages that characterise contemporary political, economic and social relations between the two regions. Part IV addresses the politics of economic linkages, with five chapters covering specific aspects of their relations in order to highlight the different forms activity takes. The conclusion, perhaps not surprisingly in a work addressing such dynamic and developing issues, makes the case for further research. It closes with a firm assertion that the countries and economies of East Asia are powerful and likely to become more so in the years ahead: they will organise as a strong regional player in the global arena with Europe and the Americas.

The volume will interest students, scholars and researchers in the fields of globalisation and regional economics, international studies and Asian and European Studies.

Peter W. Preston is Professor of Political Sociology and Julie Gilson is Lecturer in International Studies in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.