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The Blind Men, the Elephant, and Regional Order in Northeast Asia: Towards a New Conceptualization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2015

SAM-SANG JO*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Letters, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japansamsangjo@gmail.com

Abstract

No theory seems to describe accurately and explain competently the new, unusual, and idiosyncratic Northeast Asian regional order phenomenon. It is because Northeast Asian specialists like the blind men have seen only one of the parts of the ‘Elephant’ or a part of what is taking place in Northeast Asia. This paper attempts to employ a new, more appropriate, more productive analytical tool to understand and navigate efficiently the Northeast Asian regional order. The main objective of this paper is ‘the rise of China and Northeast Asian regional order’, what it is and what is taking place in the empirical world when we say that something we call ‘the rise of China and Northeast Asian regional order’ is taking place.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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