Book Description

The Asian economic "meltdown" that began in 1997 has demonstrated the urgent need for a post-cold war reappraisal of U.S. policy priorities in this critical region.American policy rests on the premise that the United States does not have to choose between economic and security priorities in Asia, because the American military presence is valued by regional powers in its own right. But is this premise justified?This timely book presents mini-debates on the key issues facing the United States in Asia, together with the recommendations of an Economic Strategy Institute Study Group composed of leading scholars, businessmen, diplomats, and military leaders with Asian experience. Among the wide-ranging recommendations are controversial proposals for a gradual disengagement of U.S. combat forces from Japan and Korea. The sixteen specialists who debate U.S. policy options in background papers prepared for the Study Group present conflicting perspectives on U.S. interests in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.In a policy-challenging Overview, editors Selig S. Harrison and Clyde V. Prestowitz, Jr., focus on the impact of the cold war on U.S. economic relations with Asia today, and on the diminishing need for the forward deployment of U.S. forces resulting from improvements in U.S. airlift and sealift capabilities.The contributors are Doug Bandow, Barry Bosworth, Ted Galen Carpenter, James Clad, Rear Adm. Eugene Carroll, Jr., Charles W. Freeman, Jr., Chalmers Johnson, Geoffrey Kemp, Paul H. Kreisberg, Nicholas R. Lardy, Martin L. Lasater, Mike Masato Mochizuki, William J. Taylor, Ezra Vogel, Allen S. Whiting, and Jeffrey Winters.Selig S. Harrison is a senior scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a fellow of The Century Foundation. His many books on U.S. relations with Asia include The Widening Gulf: Asian Nationalism and U.S. Policy. Clyde V. Prestowitz, Jr., is president of the Economic Strategy Institute and former counselor to the Secretary of Commerce. He is the author of Trading Places: How We Allowed Japan to Take the Lead.