Author Description

Product Description The present volume is the outcome of this conference held in October 2011. Representing Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, and USA, an interdisciplinary group of over fifty scholars discussed some thirty papers and four keynote speeches in Seoul... The content of the conference is well reflected in the chapters of this book. Most of our authors agree that the influence of Asia is increasing in economy, culture, and many other fields; however, they also notice that this change needs more scrutiny in order to be able to forecast the future of Asia. Bearing this in mind, the authors are surveying different facets of growing Asia in this book The cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan is vital for the future of Asia and even for the world; however, there are many obstacles to overcome in order to forge a regional community in Northeast Asia.... To build a regional community, they should pursue a conjunctive synthesis ( ) and unity in diversity ( ) through acceptance of intraregional diversity under regional commonness. While fostering a sense of community, they should enhance mutual understanding and trust through expansion of cultural and economic exchanges for cooperation and coexistence (Exposition, 19). I do not expect a straight global power shift from West to East, but rather a complex rebalancing of the great regional powers of the United States and China (plus the European Union as a distant third).... Having experienced the giddy Wirtschaftswunder growth in West Germany in the Fifties and Sixties of the last century, as well as the light-headed behavior of the US after winning the Cold War, I must say that handling extraordinary success is not easier than having to cope with failure. Hence, I am not only concerned about the environmental costs of massive industrial globalization, but also about the irreversible cultural damage inflicted by the dynamism of the Asian boom