Identity and Change in East Asian Conflicts The Cases of China, Taiwan, and the Koreas

Changing national identities have transformed the China-Taiwan and Korean conflicts. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea, and liberalization in China, have forced leaders to compete for popular legitimacy by appealing to national identities. Along with the collapse of the Soviet Union, these contested national identities have been the main factors driving change in the conflicts-pushing China and Taiwan inexorably apart and toward a showdown, while helping to prop up what appeared to be a mortally wounded North Korea. This explains why one U.S. ally, Taiwan, becomes more hawkish, while the other, South Korea, becomes more dovish. U.S. foreign policy is struggling to adjust.

Shale Horowitz is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research examines international and ethnic conflict and economic policy in Asia and Europe. He is the author of From Ethnic Conflict to Stillborn Reform: The Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (2005), and co-editor of three books, including Conflict in Asia: Korea, China-Taiwan, and India-Pakistan (2003). His articles have been published in many prominent political science journals.
 
Uk Heo is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests are in the political economy of defense spending, international conflict, and Asian politics. He is author, co-author, or co-editor of five books. His articles have appeared in many top political science journals. 
 
Alexander C. Tan is an Associate Professor/Reader in Comparative Politics and Political Science Program Director in the School of Political Science and Communications at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is currently an editorial board member of International Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and Political Research Quarterly.  He has written widely in the areas of Asian politics, comparative political parties, and comparative political economy. He is author of Members, Organizations, and Performance and co-editor of Taiwan’s National Security: Dilemmas and Opportunities. His articles have been widely published in political science journals.