While, over the last 30 years, the global economy's center of gravity has shifted to East Asia, the region has remained surprisingly free of interstate military conflict. Yet this era of peace and growth has been punctuated by periodic reminders of enduring security problems in the region―from China's military modernization, to unresolved territorial disputes, to persistent tensions on the Korean peninsula. This volume is one of the first to treat these issues of economics and security as interconnected rather than separate. Its authors―leading scholars from the U.S. and China―shed new light on this important nexus by applying insights from a rich variety of approaches to explore and explain the dynamics of a region whose importance for students of both international political economy and international security has grown dramatically. They show that both economic and security 'fundamentals' matter if one is to understand the reasons for, and evaluate the durability of, East Asia's recent peace and prosperity. "This is a first-rate volume with distinguished contributors writing on an important subject. East Asia is the world's most important region for strategic and economic stability, but the nexus between economic and security affairs is poorly understood."―Robert Ross, Professor of Political Science, Boston College "A preeminent cast of contributors examines the major issues on the agenda of East Asian international relations. This kaleidoscopic, comprehensive and careful assessment weaves very effectively the thick threads connecting economics and security in that pivotal region. Anybody seeking to understand the durability of East Asia's peace and prosperity will find this volume indispensable."―Etel Solingen, Chancellor's Professor, University of California Irvine Avery Goldstein is David M. Knott Professor of Global Politics and International Relations and Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. Edward D. Mansfield is Hum Rosen Professor of Political Science and Director of the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania. THE NEXUS OF ECONOMICS, SECURITY, AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN EAST ASIA Stanford University Press Copyright © 2012 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8047-8274-6 Contents List of Illustrations...................................................................................................................................ixAcknowledgments.........................................................................................................................................xiContributors............................................................................................................................................xiii1 The Political Economy of Regional Security in East Asia Avery Goldstein and Edward D. Mansfield......................................................12 Finance and Security in East Asia Benjamin J. Cohen..................................................................................................393 Regional Economic Institutions and East Asian Security Miles Kahler..................................................................................664 The Spillover Effect of the ASEAN-Plus-Three Process on East Asian Security Wu Xinbo.................................................................965 Disputes over Territories and Maritime Rights and Interests: Their Political Economic Implications Zhang Tuosheng....................................1206 The Cult of Energy Insecurity and Great Power Rivalry Across the Pacific Danielle F. S. Cohen and Jonathan Kirshner..................................1447 Economic Growth, Regime Insecurity, and Military Strategy: Explaining the Rise of Noncombat Operations in China M. Taylor Fravel.....................1778 Information-Age Economics and the Future of the East Asian Security Environment Michael C. Horowitz..................................................2119 The China-U.S. Handshake in Northeast Asia: The Key to Dual Stability in Bilateral Ties and Regional Equilibrium Yuan Peng...........................236Index...................................................................................................................................................251 Chapter One The Political Economy of Regional Security in East Asia Avery Goldstein and Edward D. Mansfield EAST ASIA HAS EXPERIENCED MORE THAN THREE DECADES OF peace and prosperity, a sharp contrast with the recurrent wars and lagging development that plagued much of the region during earlier eras. The last major military conflict, the Sino-Vietnamese War, ended in 1979. Although skirmishes between the antagonists were not completely extinguished until the 1980s, the year 1979 marked the beginning of a clear secular decline in militarized conflict that has c