Olga Barbasiewicz - Böcker

The Cold War in Europe and Asia has lastingly affected the postwar reconciliation processes: Korea and Germany remained divided into two countries, Japan evolved into the closest ally of its past enemy, and Poland, which was among the Allies of World War II, was left under the influence of the Soviet Union. In view of their complicated postwar history, these countries can serve as examples for comparison of the postwar reconciliation processes. This book addresses the case of Central Europe and East Asia – regions which suffered from war atrocities and still have to cope with their war experiences. The aim is to identify tools to implement a strategy of rapprochement between past enemies who need to find solutions for their coexistence in the contemporary world.

This book analyzes current security challenges in Asia (understood in its broader Indo–Pacific sense) with the aim of capturing the major shifts in the balance of power involving regional actors. Through the lenses of IR theory, this book seeks to provide insights into the consequences of the transition of power from the United States to China. The growing power of China and its impact on both neighboring countries and the international system as a whole, as well as its reception by the United States, have been of key importance to the development of security and international studies. By presenting the case studies of regional security challenges from a multidimensional perspective, this book analyzes both the stages of the maturity of powers and their satisfaction within the existing system.

Memories contribute to the construction of the image or interpretation of the past and the present. This book focuses on the topic of memory in the Middle and Far East societies by highlighting non-European cases of practicing collective and historical memory.The Far East cases include the memory of the Japanese occupation of Korea, issues of Japanization policies within the Taiwanese society, the role of museums in Chinese patriotism, the issue of contemporary Japanese nationalists, and public memory evaluation in India.The Middle Eastern contexts concentrate on the impact of the Arab Spring, historical memory in the politics of Muslim movements and interpreting aspects of heritage.