In the second event of the Cross-Strait Series, Ambassador Julia Chang-Bloch moderated a panel discussion on the growing nationalism in northeast Asia and the implications of this trend for the integration of the region and the notion of an Asia-Pacific community.

East Asia’s Future: Nationalism or Integration? by Atlantic Council

Panelists included Rust Deming from Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, Bruce Klingner from the Heritage Foundation, and Phillip Saunders of the National Defense University. The panelists provided insights on the recent nationalist fervor and actions over the disputed islands in both the East and South China Seas, including the most recent visit of 168 Diet members and Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to the Yasukuni shrine and Prime Minister Abe’s comments questioning Japan’s history in the 1930s and 1940s. Since the end of the Cold War, Asia has emerged as a central driver of economic globalization with a $19 trillion regional economy becoming an engine of global growth. But the specter of rising nationalism in the area now threatens to undo the gains that global interdependence has brought to the region and to the world. The interdependence among China, Japan, and South Korea with the global market economy is great both individually and collectively.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Atlantic Council
1101 15th Street, NW, 11th floor
Washington, DC 20005

This event is part of the Cross-Strait series, which examines strategic and current affairs surrounding cross-strait relations.