Japan and the New Silk Road: Diplomacy, Development and Connectivity / Edition 1

by Nikolay Murashkin

Overview

This book presents a study of Japanese involvement in post-Soviet Central Asia since the independence of these countries in 1991, examining the reasons for progress and stagnation in this multi-lateral relationship.

Featuring interviews with decision-makers and experts from Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and the Philippines, this book argues that Japan’s impact on Central Asia and its connectivity has been underappreciated. It demonstrates that Japan’s infrastructural footprint in the New Silk Road significantly pre-dated China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and that the financial and policy contribution driven by Japanese officials was of a similar order of magnitude. It also goes on to show that Japan was the first major power outside of post-Soviet Central Asia to articulate a dedicated Silk Road diplomacy vis-à-vis the region before the United States and China, and the first to sponsor pivotal assistance.

Being the first detailed analytical account of the diplomatic impact made on the New Silk Road by various Japanese actors beyond formal diplomacy, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese politics, as well as Asian politics and international politics more generally.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367109905
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/12/2020
Series:	Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Nikolay Murashkin is a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and a sessional lecturer at the School of Political Sciences and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include Japan’s economic statecraft and politics of connectivity infrastructure and finance in the Indo-Pacific and Eurasia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Central Asia on Japan’s Diplomatic Agenda: Security, Resources, and Humanitarianism 2. Silk Road Diplomacy of the DPJ cabinets: Continuity, Inertia And Change 3. Japan’s Aid in the New Silk Road: Developmentalism, Securitisation and Likely Prototype for Belt and Road? 4. Energy Silk Road: Anticipation and Adaption in Japan’s Resource Diplomacy 5. Japan, China and Asian Connectivity: Competition, Cooperation and the Weaponisation of Infrastructure Finance? Conclusion