Michal Kolmas – författare

Over the course of the twentieth century, Japan has experienced a radical shift in its self-perception. After World War II, Japan embraced a peaceful and anti-militarist identity, which was based on its war-prohibiting Constitution and the foreign policy of the Yoshida doctrine. For most of the twentieth century, this identity was unusually stable. In the last couple of decades, however, Japan’s self-perception and foreign policy seem to have changed. Tokyo has conducted a number of foreign policy actions as well as symbolic internal gestures that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago and that symbolize a new and more confident Japan. Japanese politicians – including Prime Minister Abe Shinzō – have adopted a new discourse depicting pacifism as a hindrance, rather than asset, to Japan’s foreign policy. Does that mean that “Japan is back”?In order to better understand the dynamics of contemporary Japan, Kolmaš joins up the dots between national identity theory and Japanese revisionism. The book shows that while political elites and a portion of the Japanese public call for re-articulation of Japan’s peaceful identity, there are still societal and institutional forces that prevent this change from entirely materializing.

Karmazin, Kolmaš, and Qiao-Franco deconstruct the concept of the Indo-Pacific and offer a timely, comparative, and multidimensional exploration of the region’s international relations.Addressing fundamental academic questions regarding the viability of the Indo-Pacific as a regional conception, this book examines whether the Indo-Pacific is a true regional community or a strategic invention driven by global rivalries and geopolitical interests. Drawing on a rich blend of International Relations, Security Studies, International Political Economy, Human and Political Geography, Cultural Studies, and Area Studies, the book investigates the key thematic areas that define the region’s past, present, and future. They include a historical investigation of formation, enculturation, and demarcation of the region; colonization, decolonization, and construction of the modern state; conflicts and wars in (trans)regional settings; regional economy and development; institutions and other modes of international or transnational cooperation; and cultures, societies and identities within and across the Indo-Pacific countries.An essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners of international affairs who seek to make sense of one of the world’s most dynamic and contested regions.Chapters 2, 3 and 5 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 license.

Karmazin, Kolmaš, and Qiao-Franco deconstruct the concept of the Indo-Pacific and offer a timely, comparative, and multidimensional exploration of the region’s international relations.Addressing fundamental academic questions regarding the viability of the Indo-Pacific as a regional conception, this book examines whether the Indo-Pacific is a true regional community or a strategic invention driven by global rivalries and geopolitical interests. Drawing on a rich blend of International Relations, Security Studies, International Political Economy, Human and Political Geography, Cultural Studies, and Area Studies, the book investigates the key thematic areas that define the region’s past, present, and future. They include a historical investigation of formation, enculturation, and demarcation of the region; colonization, decolonization, and construction of the modern state; conflicts and wars in (trans)regional settings; regional economy and development; institutions and other modes of international or transnational cooperation; and cultures, societies and identities within and across the Indo-Pacific countries.An essential read for students, scholars, and practitioners of international affairs who seek to make sense of one of the world’s most dynamic and contested regions.Chapters 2, 3 and 5 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 license.

This book evaluates the deepening accord the EU and Japan hold in the Indo-Pacific region, in terms of security, economy and values.Focusing on the contemporary period after Japan and the EU signed Strategic and Economic Partnership Agreements in 2018, the book analyses both general outlooks and world visions of the two, and the practical programs and initiatives in the Indo-Pacific through which these are achieved. By exploring both actors’ perception of the Indo-Pacific in historical, intellectual, and political contexts, and its contemporary political interests within security, environmental and economic dimensions, the book demonstrates how closely the duo’s roles in the region are connected.Revealing the changing contours of the EU-Japan partnership in the Indo-Pacific, this will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of geopolitics, economic geography and international relations, particularly of Japan, the EU and the Indo-Pacific.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Japan has experienced a radical shift in its self-perception. After World War II, Japan embraced a peaceful and anti-militarist identity, which was based on its war-prohibiting Constitution and the foreign policy of the Yoshida doctrine. For most of the twentieth century, this identity was unusually stable. In the last couple of decades, however, Japan’s self-perception and foreign policy seem to have changed. Tokyo has conducted a number of foreign policy actions as well as symbolic internal gestures that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago and that symbolize a new and more confident Japan. Japanese politicians – including Prime Minister Abe Shinzō – have adopted a new discourse depicting pacifism as a hindrance, rather than asset, to Japan’s foreign policy. Does that mean that “Japan is back”?In order to better understand the dynamics of contemporary Japan, Kolmaš joins up the dots between national identity theory and Japanese revisionism. The book shows that while political elites and a portion of the Japanese public call for re-articulation of Japan’s peaceful identity, there are still societal and institutional forces that prevent this change from entirely materializing.