Japan and South Korea are Western-style democracies with open-market
economies committed to the rule of law. They are also U.S. allies. Yet
despite their shared interests, shared values, and geographic proximity,
divergent national identities have driven a wedge between them. Drawing
on decades of expertise, Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder investigate
the roots of this split and its ongoing threat to the region and the
world.
Glosserman and Snyder isolate competing notions of national identity as
the main obstacle to a productive partnership between Japan and South
Korea. Through public opinion data, interviews, and years of
observation, they show how fundamentally incompatible, rapidly changing
conceptions of national identity in Japan and South Korea--and not
struggles over power or structural issues--have complicated territorial
claims and international policy. Despite changes in the governments of
both countries and concerted efforts by leading political figures to
encourage U.S.-ROK-Japan security cooperation, the Japan-South Korea
relationship continues to be hobbled by history and its deep imprint on
ideas of national identity. This book recommends bold, policy-oriented
prescriptions for overcoming problems in Japan-South Korea relations and
facilitating trilateral cooperation among these three Northeast Asian
allies, recognizing the power of the public on issues of foreign policy,
international relations, and the prospects for peace in Asia.
