Rationality and Emotion : Comparative Studies of the Franco-German and Sino-Japanese Reconciliations

Reconciliation is an important agenda for postwar countries. It plays a major role in harmonizing bilateral and regional relations. Lin Ren compares reconciliations between the Sino-Japanese and the Franco-German dyads. Each dyad shares a deep-rooted historic antagonism. Nevertheless, France and Germany reached a far deeper degree of reconciliation. Therefore, this book devotes to explore the “trouble-creators” that led to the diverse outcomes, so as to challenge taking rationality as the single micro-foundation of decision making concerning reconciliation. Acknowledgement 5 Contents 7 List of Tables and Figures 11 List of Abbreviations 13 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Literature Review: Current Research on Reconciliation 15 1.1.1 Developing a General Theoretical Model of the Reconciling Process 16 1.1.2 Typical and Extreme Case Studies 18 1.1.3 Studies on Ideational Factors and Remembrance 19 1.2 Theoretical Relevant IDVs: Explanatory Variables from the Different Strands of IR Theories 21 1.2.1 IDV 1: The Commercial Ties /Economic Interdependence 24 1.2.2 IDV 2: Maintaining or Challenging the Equilibrium of Power 26 1.2.3 IDV 3: Convergent Memories of History 27 1.2.4 IDV 4: Political Similarity 28 1.2.5 IDV 5: Convergent Narratives of Nationhood to Sensitive Territories 29 1.3 Hypothesis 30 1.4 Methodology: A Comparative Case Study with “small-n” Samples 32 1.5 The Roadmap of the Book 34 2 A Research Framework and Some Important Definitions 36 2.1 Reconciliation: Making a Better Defined Area for IR Students 36 2.2 Introduction into the Cases & Cutting Time into Periods 39 2.3 A Research Framework 41 2.3.1 The Process of Studying a Causal Mechanism in Social Science and the Theoretical Contribution of this Design 41 2.3.2 Development of Related Schools of Thought: Research Significance in Terms of the Theoretical Puzzle 43 2.4 The Analysis-Level Problem and Pluralism 49 2.5 The Nature of Conciliatory/Non-Conciliatory Decision-Making 51 2.6 Indicate the Variation of the Stability of Peace (DV) 54 2.6.1 The Franco-German Relationship 56 2.6.2 The Sino-Japanese Relationship 60 2.7 Short Summary 63 3 Trade Ties and Reconciliation 64 3.1 Theoretical Background 64 3.2 Correlation between Economic Interdependence and Peace 66 3.3 Across Analytic Two Levels: Information Flow, Institutional Restraint and “Reputation-Cost” 74 3.4 Diverse Ways of Reasoning: Arguing from the Asymmetry Interdependence and How Accommodating Gestures from One Side Could Enable Reconciliation 76 3.5 Conclusion: Redefined Self-Interest 79 4 Revisionism and Reconciliation 82 4.1 Theoretical Background 82 4.2 Comparative Study of Related Indicators/ Reconciliation Outcomes 84 4.2.1 GDP Growth 84 4.2.2 Military Expenditure (Sum Per Capita) 87 4.2.3 Armed Forces (Manpower and Technique), Air Forces, Naval Forces 91 4.2.4 Nuclear Capability and Other Power Boosting Signals 93 4.2.5 The Status Quo with the U.S.: NATO and the U.S.-Japanese Allies 94 4.3 Examples of Uncertainty and Different Ways of Reasoning 95 4.4 Conclusion of Comparison 98 5 Memory and Reconciliation 99 5.1 Theoretical Background and Dynamics: Memory, Signal, Identity, and Healing 99 5.2 Typology of Memory and Correlated Reconciliation 101 5.2.1 Clash of Memory 102 5.2.2 Collective Amnesia 106 5.2.3 Collective Memory 111 5.3 The Analysis Level 113 5.3.1 The Clashing Sino-Japanese Remembrance and Reconciliation after 1980s-current 114 5.3.2 The Co-Amnesia Remembrance and Reconciliation from 1950s to 1972; 1972-early 1980s 115 5.3.3 The Co-Amnesia German-Franco Remembrance and Reconciliation from the 1950s to 1963 118 5.3.4 The Convergent Franco-German Remembrance and Reconciliation from 1963 to 1989; after 1989 119 5.4 Micro-Foundation: Emotion 120 6 Political Similarity and Reconciliation 123 6.1 Theoretical Background 123 6.2 Correlation between Political Similarity and a Stable Restored Relationship 125 6.3 Reconciliation and Political Transformation in the Franco-German Dyad 126 6.3.1 German Political Transformation till 1963: Convergence of Democratic Culture between Bonn and Paris 126 6.3.2 Continuing Convergent Signals of Political Transformation 127 6.3.3 Democratic Political Culture Introduced to The East 129 6.4 Reconciliation and Political Transformation in the Sino-Japanese Dyad 130 6.4.1 Reducing Political Similarity and The Sino-Japanese Relationship in the Era of Pre-Normalization 130 6.4.2 Political Dissimilarity and The Sino-Japanese Relationship in the Era of Post-Normalization 131 6.4.3 Political Dissimilarity and The Sino-Japanese Relationship in the Post 1990s 132 6.5 Conclusion and Micro Foundation: Dynamics of Political Similarity to Promote Reconciliation 134 7 Convergent Narrative of Sensitive Territories and Reconciliation 136 7.1 Theoretical Background 136 7.2 Converging Narrative between Germany and France 139 7.2.1 Tentative Acknowledgment 139 7.2.2 Initial Acknowledgment 141 7.2.3 Fundamental Acknowledgment and New Identity 143 7.3 Diverging Narratives between China and Japan 144 7.3.1 Non-Acknowledgment of the Other’s Narrative of Nationhood and Peoplehood in Early Period 145 7.3.2 Non-Acknowledgment of the Other’s Narrative of Nationhood and Peoplehood (Identity Conflict) in Mid-Term 146 7.3.3 Recent Conflicts 147 7.4 Conclusion 148 8 Conclusion and Theoretical Contribution 151 8.1 Conclusion from Comparative Case Studies: The Theoretical Framework 151 8.2 Conclusion from Comparative Case Studies: The Empirical Finding 152 8.3 Rethinking Rationality as the Only Source of Micro-Foundation 157 8.3.1 Rethinking Using Rationalism to Deal with the Micro-Macro Integration Problem 157 8.3.2 Rethinking Rationality in Terms of IR Discipline 158 8.3.3 Rethinking Rationality based on the Recent Findings in Evolutionary Psychology 161 8.3.4 More Tips in Reconciliation Studies: Two Analytic Levels and Rationality 162 8.3.5 Short Summary and Model Modification of the Causality Study 166 8.4 The Co-Dynamic of Material and Ideational Factors: Brain and Thoughts 168 8.5 Conclusion 170 Literature 173 Reconciliation is an important agenda for post-war countries. It plays a major role in harmonizing bilateral and regional relations. Lin Ren compares reconciliations between the Sino-Japanese and the Franco-German dyads. Each dyad shares a deep-rooted historic antagonism. Nevertheless, France and Germany have reached a far deeper degree of reconciliation. The author explores the causes that led to the diverse outcomes, so as to challenge taking rationality as the single micro-foundation of decision-making concerning reconciliation. Contents · Economic Interdependence · Maintaining or Challenging Equilibrium · Convergent Memories of History · Political Similarity · Territorial Narratives Target Groups · Researchers and students in the fields of political science, international relations and history · Journalists, politicians The Author Dr. Lin Ren completed her PhD at Freie Universität Berlin under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Klaus Segbers at the Department of Political and Social Sciences Front Matter....Pages 1-13 Introduction....Pages 15-36 A Research Framework and Some Important Definitions....Pages 37-64 Trade Ties and Reconciliation....Pages 65-82 Revisionism and Reconciliation....Pages 83-99 Memory and Reconciliation....Pages 101-124 Political Similarity and Reconciliation....Pages 125-137 Convergent Narrative of Sensitive Territories and Reconciliation....Pages 139-153 Conclusion and Theoretical Contribution....Pages 155-176 Back Matter....Pages 177-190