Japan in Central Asia: Strategies, Initiatives, and Neighboring Powers (Politics and History in Central Asia)

This volume details the evolution of Japan's foreign policy and its initiatives with respect to Central Asia. This volume provides insights into the security, political, and economic aspects of cooperation between CA states and Japan and the features that characterize these relations. "This volume outlines the general conceptual problems regarding the CA states in Japan's foreign policy. While a longstanding body of literature exists on Japanese foreign policy toward East Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, the recent academic literature lacks thorough analyses and contextualizations of Japanese foreign policy in Central Asia. This volume further provides details of the evolution of Japan's foreign policy and its initiatives with respect to Central Asia. It also offers insights into the security, political, and economic aspects of cooperation between CA states and Japan and the features that characterize these relations. In addition, this study analyses Japanese foreign policy toward the CA states, including comparisons with Chinese and Russian initiatives such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States/ Eurasian Economic Union"-- Provided by publisher While a longstanding body of literature exists on Japanese foreign policy toward East Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, the recent academic literature lacks thorough contextualization and analyses of Japanese foreign policy in Central Asia. This volume outlines the general conceptual problems regarding the Central Asia states in Japan's foreign policy and provides further details of the evolution of Japan's foreign policy and its initiatives with respect to Central Asia. It also offers insights into the security, political, and economic aspects of cooperation between the Central Asia states and Japan, and the features that characterize these relations. In addition, this study analyzes Japanese foreign policy toward the Central Asiastates, including comparisons with Chinese and Russian initiatives such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States/ Eurasian Economic Union. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-9 Between Idealism and Pragmatism....Pages 11-33 Japan’s ODA Assistance Scheme and Central Asian Engagement: Determinants, Trends, and Expectations....Pages 35-67 One Village—One Product: The Case of JICA’s Community Empowerment Project in Kyrgyzstan....Pages 69-85 Water Resource Dispute Management in Central Asia: Japanese Attempt at Water Resource Efficiency Promotion....Pages 87-112 China as Japan’s “Other” in Central Asia....Pages 113-138 Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policies toward Central Asia from a Comparative Perspective....Pages 139-169 Back Matter....Pages 171-190