0_WUL_201230_zam_521_asian_Studies_tytulowa_krzywe.indd 1 15.01.2021 14:03 0_WUL_201230_zam_521_asian_Studies_tytulowa_krzywe.indd 3 15.01.2021 14:03 Karol Żakowski – University of Łódź, Faculty of International and Political Studies Department of Asian Studies, 90-131 Łódź Poland, 59a Narutowicza St. REVIEWER Ewa Trojnar INITIATING EDITOR Witold Szczęsny LANGUAGE CORRECTION Martin Hinton TYPESETTING Munda – Maciej Torz TECHNICAL EDITOR Anna Sońta COVER DESIGN Agencja Reklamowa efectoro.pl Cover Image: © Depositphotos.com/itpow © Copyright by by Authors, Łódź 2020 © Copyright for this edition by University of Łódź, Łódź 2020 Published by Łódź University Press First edition. W.10023.20.0.K Publisher’s sheets 10.0; printing sheets 11.375 ISBN 978-83-8220-183-3 e-ISBN 978-83-8220-184-0 Łódź University Press 90-131 Łódź, 8 Lindleya St. www.wydawnictwo.uni.lodz.pl e-mail: [email protected] phone. 42 665 58 63 Table of Contents Karol Żakowski, Evaluating the Dynamic Changes in Asian Countries ...... 7 The Western Powers’ Changing Position in Asia . 11 David Jervis, A Review and Evaluation of Recent Scholarship on America’s War in Vietnam................................................. 13 Su-chun Li, A Case Study of the Fulbright Program in Korea............... 27 David A. Jones, Managing Asia: A 21st Century “Chingbirok”? Opportunities in Trade Balanced Against Risk Factors in East, South, and Southeast Asian Security . 43 Mateusz Smolaga, Targeting of EU Development Assistance in Asia......... 59 China’s Rising Influence in the World . 79 Amandeep Singh Hanspal, The Belt & Road Initiative and Its Impact on Cen- tral Asia. Kazakhstan: A Case Study . 81 Mateusz Chatys, The Patron-Client Concept in Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Philippines ............................ 91 Przemysław Ciborek, Political and Economic Activities of the PRC on the Balkan Peninsula. Romania: A Case Study . 111 Evolution of Japanese Democracy .................................. 129 Jinghao Zhou, Chinese Confucianism, Japanese Practice ................. 131 Sylwia Łagnowska, Dynasties and Democracy in Japan................... 147 Karol Żakowski, Political Leadership vs. Prime Ministerial Leadership: Evolu- tion of the Priorities in Decision-Making Reform in Japan . 161 List of Figures . 179 List of Tables ................................................... 181 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/8220-183-3.01 Karol Żakowski University of Lodz Evaluating the Dynamic Changes in Asian Countries Dynamism has been a key word in describing the changes in Asia since at least the mid-19th century. It was Japan that initiated abrupt modernization as the first country on the continent in the Meiji period, in 1868. Profound economic, societal, political, and cultural changes were experienced by a growing number of Asian states after the end of the Sec- ond World War. Decolonization, wars in Korea and Vietnam, the emer- gence of Asian Tigers, Sino-American rapprochement after the Nixon Shock in 1971, and entry of the People’s Republic of China on the path of reforms in 1978 attested to the increasing importance of Asia in the global geopolitical landscape. The rise of China, coupled with the economic and political stagnation of Japan, translated into a further change in the power balance in the region after the end of the Cold War. This monograph tries to illustrate different aspects of these complex dynamics. The first thematic block focuses on the analysis of the US and the EU’s changing position in East Asia. It touches upon both the historical legacy of the Cold War and the power shifts in current times. David Jervis reviews recent publications about the Vietnam War. He concludes that while the analyzed titles put much emphasis on describing the tragedy of the Vietnamese people, they also implied that the atrocities committed by the US may have been an inevitable measure to stop the spread of communism in Asia. Su-chun Li examines the evolution of the Fulbright program in the Republic of Korea. She suggests that despite the fact that the program did not directly influence Seoul’s foreign policy, it was po- tentially instrumental in inculcating such values as freedom, democracy, peace, and self-determination in South Korea. David A. Jones examines 8 Karol Żakowski the possibility of building an Anglo-American trade route alternative to China’s new silk road plan: maritime corridors from Japan to the Mediter- ranean Sea or across the Arctic Ocean, as well as a land corridor through Russia. He suggests that without such an initiative, it will be difficult to contain China’s rising power. Mateusz Smolaga, in turn, traces anomalies in the EU’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Asian countries. As he stresses, while the EU’s targeting generally matched a high ODA to a low Human Development Index (HDI), the EU also used the ODA to pursue its own political and economic goals. The four chapters illustrate the fact that the US, and to a lesser extent the EU, has been unwilling to easily cede ground in Asia to the rising China. The second thematic block examines China’s growing political and economic influence in the world. Amandeep Singh Hanspal analyzes the significance of the Belt & Road Initiative for Kazakhstan and whole of Central Asia. He stresses that while Kazakhstan has been using the Chi- nese initiative to achieve its own developmental goals, it has been also concerned with the violation of human rights of ethnic Kazakhs and Uy- ghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Mateusz Chatys examines the evolution of a patron–client relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the Philippines. As he concludes, despite the Chinese ambition to replace the US as the main patron of the Philippines, the Philippine society and military elite still display high distrust towards Beijing and high confidence in Washington. Przemysław Ciborek, in turn, analyzes China’s growing political and economic presence on the Balkan Peninsula, in particular in Romania. He emphasizes that while Beijing remains an important partner for Bucharest, the asymmetry in bilateral trade exchange pushes Romania towards counterbalancing Chinese influence by reinforcing positive rela- tions with the EU. All three chapters stress China’s growing ambition to play a significant role in different parts of the world, but they also indicate the social, humanitarian, political, and economic obstacles to the spread of the Chinese sphere of influence. While the People’s Republic of China has been strengthening its in- ternational position, recent decades have witnessed a gradual demise of Japan’s relative power. This profound shift in the regional balance of power was accompanied by the dynamic evolution of Japanese democracy, which is examined in the last thematic block. Jinghao Zhou compares the prac- tice of Confucianism in China and Japan. He concludes that while the Chinese Communist Party has used Confucianism to justify its legitimacy, Evaluating the Dynamic Changes in Asian Countries 9 the Japanese version of Confucianism has served to support democratiza- tion, maintaining harmonious social order, and enhancing the free-market oriented economy. Sylwia Łagnowska analyzes the evolution of hereditary parliamentarism in Japan. She links the existence of political dynasties in that country not only to institutional factors, such as the electoral system that was changed in 1994, but also to cultural and historical determinants. Karol Żakowski, in turn, examines the growing importance of political and prime ministerial leadership in Japan. As he emphasizes, while the former concept was aimed at redressing the collusion between the dominant par- ty and civil servants, the latter’s goal was to impose top-down leadership both on the bureaucrats and the Liberal Democratic Party backbenchers. The three papers draw attention to the fact that Japanese liberal democracy has been heavily influenced by Asian values. While the book chapters touch upon diverse problems, they all il- lustrate the dynamic changes that occurred on the Asian continent in recent decades. By describing different dimensions of the politics, foreign policies, societies, and economics of Asian countries, they contribute to a better understanding of the complex mosaic of the intertwining interests of global and local powers in the region. The Western Powers’ Changing Position in Asia http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/8220-183-3.02 David Jervis Marie Curie-Sklodowska University A Review and Evaluation of Recent Scholarship on America’s War in Vietnam Abstract This review examines three recently-published books about the Vietnam War: Max Hastings, Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975, Max Boot, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, and Brian Van- DeMark, Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam. As indicated by the books’ titles, they all depict the war as a “tragedy,” “a disaster,” etc. The review will detail their explanations for the Vietnam tragedy and evalu- ate the alternatives they suggest. Keywords: Vietnam War, Edward Lansdale, decision-making theories, counterin- surgency 1. Introduction This reviewer has studied America’s failed responses to political vio- lence in the non-Western world for more than thirty years. The experience in Vietnam is an essential case and, nearing the end of his career, he want- ed to read recent books about Vietnam to remind himself of the course of the war and new interpretations of it. Revisiting the Vietnam era may also provide greater