East Asians in the League of Nations

Christopher R. Hughes Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the LSE, where he served as Director of the Asia Research Centre from 2002 to 2005. He has published widely on Chinese foreign policy and the impact of culture, technology and power on the evolution of international society. Previous books include Taiwan and Chinese Nationalism: National Identity and Status in International Society (Routledge 1997/2014), China and the Internet: Politics of the Digital Leap Forward (ed. Wth G. Wacker) (Routledge 2003) and Chinese Nationalism in the Global Era (Routledge Curzon 2006).Hatsue Shinohara is a Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. She specializes in the history of international organization and international law. Her major publications include American International Lawyers in the Interwar Years: A Forgotten Crusade (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and the League of Nations (in Japanese) (2010), which was translated into Chinese and published in China (2020).

“This book is struc­tured into four thematic sections, each offering valuable insights into the League’s dynamics in Eastern Asia. … This volume highlights the importance of adopting a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to studying global international relations, encourag­ing further research by the authors or scholars who share similar perspectives.” (Hirofumi Oguri, Journal of the History of International Law, Vol. 26 (4), 2024)

• Chapter 1: Introduction (Christopher R. Hughes and Hatsue Shinohara).- Part 1: The League and Empires.- Chapter 2: “Liberal internationalism” reconsidered: Liberal inter-imperialism and the League of Nations in Asia and the Pacific (Tomoko Akami).- Chapter 3: The League of Nations’ Functional Works in the Years of Growing Nationalism (Harumi Goto-Shibata).- Part 2: Globalism and Inter-Civilizationism.- Chapter 4: The activity and legacy of the Far East Bureau of the League of Nations: A key knot in connecting regional and international order (Kayo Takuma).- Chapter 5: Japanese International Lawyers and the Codification of International Law in the League of Nations (Rikiya Takahashi).- Chapter 6: Intellectual Entanglements between the League of Nations and East Asia: Modernism or Anti-Modernism? (Takashi Saikawa).- Part 3: Member States.- Chapter 7: Attempting Neutrality: Siam’s Coping with the League of Nations’ Multilateralism (TeewinSuputtikun).- Chapter 8: The Council of the League of Nations and Japan: A Challenge to Emerging International Norms (Hatsue Shinohara).- Chapter 9: China’s Policies toward the Abyssinian Question, 1935-1938 (Li Chang).- Part 4: The Case of Manchuria.- Chapter 10: Popular Newspapers in China and the League: A Case of the Lytton Commission (Lunhai Mu).- Chapter 11: Aborted Ideas of an Internationally Administered Manchuria: The Background to the Lytton Report (Haruo Tohmatsu).- Chapter 12: The Diplomatic construction of Chinese sovereignty During the Manchurian Crisis (Christopher R. Hughes).- Chapter 13: Conclusion (Madeleine Herren).