This book attempts to develop a novel way of conceptualizing regionalism under hyper-globalization. Until recently, regionalism has been often framed in terms of economic interdependence and security connectivity in which sovereign states are the key navigators within the liberal world order. Under hyper-globalization in the third millennium, hyper-globalization forces us to capture global politics at two more levels of measurement at the state level and both there below and there above. First, how 29 Asian sovereign states join multilateral treaty participation to develop their global quasi-legislative types and how citizens' satisfaction with quality of life in 29 civil societies shapes their societal types. Second, relating these two features above and below sovereign states, the book attempts to measure the features and speculate on the futures of four Asian regionalisms (Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia) and their prospect of the demographically largest continent called Asia in the twenty-first century. Regionalism is measured by the proclivity of 600 multilateral treaty participation in terms of speed (cautious versus agile), angle (global commons versus individual interests) and strategy (aspirational bonding versus mutual binding), whereas quality of life is measured by citizens' satisfaction with 16 domains, aspects and styles of individual daily life in terms of survival (or materialism), social relations (post-materialism) and public policy preponderance. The book opens an innovative vista to better understand tumultuous global politics.
This ambitious volume leverages original survey data on citizen satisfaction and country-level data on treaty accessions to characterize the trajectories of countries in four regions of Asia as they adapt -- or fail to adapt -- to the challenges of globalization in the 21st century and beyond. Readers will learn much about politics from the basic level of the individual citizen to the most comprehensive level of the global system - and about the interactions of politics at all levels.
-- Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
A wonderful attempt to link a country’s domestic development and its adaptation to the global politics. It is truly eye-opening and the findings are likely to significantly shape our understanding of life and global politics.
-- Zhengxu Wang, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor, Department of Political Science, Fudan University
Takashi Inoguchi is an award-winning prolific writer and educator on the topics of Japanese politics and foreign policy, East Asian international relations and Asian comparative politics, Dr. Inoguchi celebrates a career that has allowed him to impact his industry on the topics of quality of life in Asia, evidence-based typology of Asian society, and transnationalism and global politics as manifested in the form of multilateral treaties through his publication of more than 150 books (of which 110 are in Japanese and 40 are in English). His recent authored and co-authored publications include “Exit, Voice and Loyalty in Asia: Individual Choice under 32 Asian Societal Umbrellas,” “Trust with Asian Characteristics: Interpersonal and Institutional,” “The Development of Global Legislative Politics: Rousseau and Locke Writ Global”, “Digitized Statecraft In Multilateral Treaty Participation: Global Quasi-Legislative Behavior of 193 Sovereign States”, “Japanese Politics in Comparative Politics: From the East to the West, and Then Whither?”, “Japan's International Relations at the Crossroads: Wars, Globalization and Japanese Theorizings in the Extended Twentieth Century” and contributed an essay to “The Oxford Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theory, Vol. 4.” Currently, Dr. Inoguchi finds success as the editor-in-chief of the Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, as the editor of The SAGE Handbook of Asian Foreign Policy, 2 vols., (2019), and as an eminent scholar-professor of political science at the Institute of Asian Cultures at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo, Japan. He is regarded within his industry for his previous work as a professor for the University of Tokyo, Senior Vice Rector of the United Nations University (assistant secretary general of the UN), chancellor and president of University Niigata Prefecture, professor of Chuo University, and associate professor at Sophia University. As an academic editor, he has been the founding editor of the Japanese Journal of Political Science, the International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and the Asian Journal of Comparative Politics. As an academic editor of book series, he has been one of the co-editors along with G. John Ikenberry for “Asia Today” and the editor of “Trust: Interdisciplinary Perspectives”, and the Editor-in-Chief for “Evidence- Based Approach to Peace and Conflict Studies.”
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Inoguchi is recognized for his past involvement in projects that directly impact his industry. He was president of the Japan Association of International Relations, counselor for the International Trade and Investment Foundation, counselor for the International Economic Exchange Foundation, committee member for the U.S. Social Science Research Council, member of the Japan-United States Educational Commission, member of the Japanese Government Legislative Council, distinguished visiting professor for the National University of Singapore, visiting professor for the SciencesPo in Paris, and visiting professor for the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. For his incredible work, Dr. Inoguchi was the recipient of numerous grants from the Ministry of Education and he was honored as a Fulbright visiting scholar by the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Further, he earned an International Communication and Research Excellence Award, a Suntory Academic Award, a Japan Association of Public Policy Best Book Award, and a Distinguished Research Fellow Award from the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. Dr. Inoguchi notes that the greatest honor of his life occurred successively when the International Society for the Quality of Life Studies established the “Takashi Inoguchi Endowed Track on Quality of Life and Well-Being in East Asia” award in his name, and when the World Association for Public Opinion Research conferred on him with “the Helen Dinerman Award” for his life time contributions to public opinion research.
A graduate of the University of Tokyo, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1966 and a Master of Arts in 1968. Thereafter, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a PhD in 1974. To remain at the top of his field, Dr. Inoguchi is a member of the Science Council of Japan, the Japanese Association of International Relations, the American Political Science Association, the International Political Science Association, the Japanese Political Science Association, the Japan Association of Public Policy Studies, the Asian Consortium for Political Research and the Japanese Society for Behaviormetrics. Looking to the future, Dr. Inoguchi intends to continue in his work while taking on new opportunities that come his way.
Lien Thi Quynh Le is a lecturer of University of Economics, Hue University, Hue City, Vietnam. She received her Master’s degree and PhD from NagaokaUniversity of Technology, Japan. She has published mainly on international regimes and global governance. Her most recent books are The Development of Global Legislative Politics: Rousseau and Locke Writ Global (with Takashi Inoguchi, Springer Nature, 2019) and Digitized Statecraft in Multilateral Treaty Participation (with Takashi Inoguchi, Springer Nature, 2021). Her current research interests include the quantitative methods for the analysis and understanding of the structure and the effectiveness of the global governance regimes. Amongst these, the social network analysis perspective for the understanding of structure and relations between sovereign states, multilateral institutions or international organizations is particularly interested.
