Topic: Robert Kagan has described the US under Trump as a “rogue superpower” that has turned its back on the liberal world order. Is this an accurate picture, and if so, is the liberal world order now irredeemably broken?
Some references if you need:
Required Readings
- Jorn Dosch, “The United States in the Asia Pacific: still the hegemon?”, in Michael K. Connors, Rémy Davison, Jörn Dosch, The New Global politics of the Asia Pacific: Conflict and Cooperation in the Asian Century, 3rd (New York: Routledge, 2018), pp. 29-46.
- Morton Abramowitz and Stephen Bosworth, “Adjusting to the New Asia”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 82, No.4, July/August 2003, pp. 119-131.
- Kenneth Lieberthal, “The American Pivot to Asia”, Foreign Policy, December 21, 2011. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/12/21/the-american-pivot-to-asia/
- Kurt M. Campbell and Ely Ratner, “Far Eastern Promises: Why Washington Should Focus on Asia”, Foreign Affairs, May/June, 2014, pp. 106-116.
- Joseph Bosco, “President Trump’s East Asia Challenge”, Real Clear Defense, February 15, 2017 http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/02/15/president_trumps_east_asia_ch allenge_110810.html Additional Readings
- Kagan, Robert. “Welcome to the jungle”The Washington Post, 10 Oct 2018
- Kagan, Robert, “Trump’s America: The rogue superpower” The Washington Post, 14 June 2018
- Simon Jackman, Gordon Flake et al., The Asian Research Network: Survey on America’s role in the Indo-Pacific, United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney and Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia. May 2017
- The Asian Research Network, Six Nations Survey: America’s Role in the Indo-Pacific (Perth USAsia Centre, 2016). http://perthusasia.edu.au/arip
- Ross, Robert S., “The Problem with the Pivot”, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec2012, Vol. 91, No.6, pp. 70-82 (For a response to this critique of the Obama administration’s new regional approach, see Brimley, Shawn and Ratner, Ely, “Smart Shift”, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb2013, Vol. 92, No.1, pp. 177-181)
- Robert Sutter, “The United States in Asia: challenged but durable leadership”, in David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda, eds., International Relations of Asia (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), pp. 85-103. Online access
- Jeffrey A. Bader, Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy (Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2012). Online Access
- “9. The United States: from the end of the Cold War to the war on terrorism and beyond”, in Michael Yahuda, The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific. 3rd and rev. ed (New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 223-264.
- Hugo Meijer, ed., Origins and Evolution of the US Rebalance toward Asia: Diplomatic, Military, and Economic Dimensions (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). Online access
- “2. The United States”, in Derek McDougall, Asia Pacific in World Politics (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007), pp. 31-50.
- Robert Sutter, “Bush Administration Security Policy Toward Asia and the Pacific: strengths outweigh weaknesses”, Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Summer 2003.
- Andrew S. Erickson, and Ja Ian Chong, “The Challenge of Maintaining American Security Ties in Post-Authoritarian East Asia”, The National Interest, 29 January, 2015. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-challenge-maintaining-american-security-ties- post-12145
- David Wright-Neville, “4. US counter-terrorism in Southeast Asia: problems on the horizon”, in Marika Vicziany, David Wright-Neville and Pete Lentini, eds., Regional Security in the Asia Pacific: 9/11 and After (Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK, 2004), pp. 51-66.
- Michael J. Montesano and Quek Ser Hwee, “The United States in Southeast Asia: deepening the rut?” Orbis, Vol.48, No.2, Spring 2004, pp. 321-334.
- Donald S. Zagoria, “6. The United States and the Asia-Pacific Region in the Post-Cold War Era”, in Robert S. Ross, East Asia in transition: toward a new regional order (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1995).
- Chapters 6-8, in Roger Buckley, The United States in the Asia-Pacific since 1945 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 181-247.
- Anthony McGrew, “Chapter 8. Restructuring foreign and defence policy: the USA”, in Anthony McGrew and Christopher Brook, eds., Asia-Pacific in the New World Order (New York: Routledge, 1998).
- Chalmers Johnson, Blowback: the costs and consequences of American empire (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2004).
- Mark Beeson, ed., Bush and Asia: America’s evolving relations with East Asia (New York: Routledge, 2006).