Foreign Policy and East Asia Learning and Adaptation in the Gorbachev Era [Paperback]

An examination of Soviet relations with North-east Asia in the 1980s and the link between domestic reform and foreign policy change.Examination of Soviet ties with North-East Asia--China, Japan, and North and South Korea--in the 1980s reveals the internal and external factors that ultimately led Gorbachev and other reformers to reject the fundamental premises upon which the Soviet system was based.Examination of Soviet ties with North-East Asia--China, Japan, and North and South Korea--in the 1980s reveals the internal and external factors that ultimately led Gorbachev and other reformers to reject the fundamental premises upon which the Soviet system was based.This book is a study of Soviet ties with Northeast Asia-- China, Japan, and North and South Korea--in the 1980s. It develops the concept of learning in Soviet foreign policy by examining the internal and external factors that ultimately led Gorbachev and other reformers to reject the fundamental premises upon which the Soviet system was based. The author examines the economic, political, ideological and military aspects of changing Soviet relations with the region, and argues that radical reform was due less to the pressures of the Cold War, than to factors internal to the Soviet Union.1. Introduction; 2. Learning, adaptation, and foreign policy change; 3. Learning and adaptation in the historical context; 4. The People's Republic of China; 5. Japan; 6. The Korean peninsula; 7. Learning and security in the Asian-Pacific region; 8. Conclusion: Soviet foreign policy learning. ...a detailed study of Soviet policy toward China, the two Koreas, and Japan during the Gorbachev era that shows Soviet application of a new approach to security issues toward a vitally important region. The chapters on particular areas or countries are interesting and well written. Choice Lucid and often persuasive arguments are mobilized to highlight the significance of learning and adaptation in the formulation of foreign policy. ld