Search

Your search keyword '"Yuan-kang Wang"' showing total 4 results
Start Over Author "Yuan-kang Wang" Topic international relations
4 results on '"Yuan-kang Wang"'

1. The Strange Journey of the Tributary System

Author

Yuan-kang Wang

Subjects
International relations, geography, History, geography.geographical_feature_category, Sociology and Political Science, Political Science and International Relations, Tributary, Lens (geology), East Asia, World order, Ancient history
Abstract

Scholars of international relations have embraced the tributary system as the dominant lens to studying historical orders of East Asia. Hendrik Spruyt’s The World Imagined, a rare gem in the study of comparative international orders, argues that the tributary system articulated the ontology of the historical East Asia international society. This article cautions against two common pitfalls. First, the tributary system is a modern conceptual construct that can blind researchers to other types of political orders existing throughout East Asia’s diverse landscape and history, thus contributing to a Sinocentric bias. Both the Mongols and the Tibetans adopted a distinctive set of rules of inter-polity conduct that have little to do with the Chinese tributary system. Second, the tributary system perpetuates the myth that East Asia has been historically peaceful, while glossing over the numerous interpolity warfare that took place in the region as well as internal conflicts within the same cultural sphere of a state. I argue that our understanding of international orders can be substantially enriched when we take material power seriously and study its interplay with ideational factors.

Published
2021

2. The Chinese World Order and War in Asian History.

Author

Yuan-kang Wang

Subjects
*INTERNATIONAL cooperation, *INTERNATIONAL relations, *INTERNATIONAL mediation, *INTERNATIONAL trade
Abstract

This article examines the proposition that, because of their historical experience, Asian states tended to accept hierarchy in international relations; the Chinese world order was both peaceful and benign. By examining Asian international history, I argue that the notion of a benign Asian hierarchy is a myth because it is based on a misreading of the region's history. The article addresses three questions: First, has the Asian international system been hierarchic in history? Second, during periods of hierarchy, has the system been peaceful? Third, was the Chinese world order a benign one? Asian history shows that the regional order was not always hierarchical and that warfare characterized international life, even during periods of hierarchy. When Asian states became tributary vassals, it was not because of a cultural tendency amenable to hierarchy, but because of their relative weakness, geographic proximity, and unavailability of allies. History shows that Asian states preferred balancing to hierarchy. The Chinese world order was not necessarily more peaceful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2009

3. Explaining the Tribute System: Power, Confucianism, and War in Medieval East Asia.

Author

Yuan-kang Wang

Subjects
*CONFUCIANISM, *INTERNATIONAL relations, *GREAT powers (International relations), *HEGEMONY
Abstract

In this article I remedy the popular misconception that the East Asian international system was hierarchical and non-egalitarian in history. I argue that the tribute system is mainly a function of power. Backed by power, Confucian norms and rules became the rules of the game in the system. Power asymmetry gave rise to hierarchy in foreign relations while power symmetry led to diplomatic equality between great powers. East Asia during the tenth to the thirteenth centuries was a multistate system without a regional hegemon. In the Song-Liao international system (960-1125), due to power symmetry, the two great powers conducted their foreign policy on the basis of formal equality. In the Song-Jin international system (1127-1234), the weaker Song China became a Jin vassal state and acknowledged its inferior status in the Jin-derived hierarchy. In studying historical East Asia, Confucian rhetoric needs to be examined against power reality. Only by taking power seriously can we get a better understanding of the East Asian international system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2013
Full Text
View/download PDF

4. Offensive Realism and the Rise of China.

Author

Yuan-Kang Wang

Subjects
BALANCE of power, REALISM, INTERNATIONAL relations
Abstract

A commentary regarding an article by Steve Chan which challenges the logic and evidence of realism and argues that realism does not even explain the European or the Western experience is presented. The author clarifies that realism is a paradigm that embodies a wide range of competing theories. He explains that revisionism in offensive realism refers to the intentions of a state to change the balance of power in its favor. He presents an evidence from Chinese history to support the claim that realism can be fruitfully applied to Asia.

Published
2004

Catalog

Books, media, physical & digital resources
See catalog results