Lecture Abstract:

This is not the first time that the world has undergone hegemonic transitions. But what can the past tell us about what the future holds and how can we prepare for such dynamic changes?  With the relative waning of US dominance in Asia, a political order is emerging as can be seen by an increasingly assertive and confident China that is not content with the status quo. As a global power,  China seeks to challenge the existing order by expanding its sphere of influence. This can be clearly seen in its recent actions in the East and South China Seas. By learning from the lessons of history, this talk will discuss the significance of this transformation and what it means for the future of Asia.

About the Speaker:

Tosh Minohara is Professor of Japanese Diplomacy at the Graduate School of Law and Politics, Kobe University where he also holds a joint appointment with the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies. He received his B.A. in International Relations from University of California, Davis, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science and Diplomatic History from Kobe University. In the past, he has had various visiting appointments with such universities as Harvard University, University of California at Irvine, University of Oxford, Leiden University, Stockholm University, Kuwait University, and Seoul National University. His primary research focus is on US-Japan relations. Major publications include, The Japanese Exclusion Act and US-Japan Relations (Iwanami Shoten, 2002; awarded the Shimizu Hiroshi Prize), The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and U.S.-Japan Relations (Yuhikaku, 2006), and most recently The Japanese Exclusion Movement in the US and US-Japan Relations (Asahi Shimbun Press, 2015). He has also co-edited, Tumultuous Decade: Empire, Society, and Diplomacy in 1930s Japan (University of Toronto Press, 2013) and The Decade of the Great War: Japan and the Wider World in the 1910s (Brill, 2014) in addition many other compiled volumes in Japanese. Since November 2014, he has been contributing a monthly serialized article for Kiwameru (Minerva Press) which traces the history of US-Japan relations from before the arrival of Commodore Perry to the eve of the Pacific War. He is also a frequent commentator for Japanese newspapers as well as for NHK and has appeared as a navigator for several National Geographic history programs.