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During the Trump administration, Sino-American relations have deteriorated to the point where the new consensus in the U.S. foreign policy establishment is that a new Cold War has begun between the U.S. and China. This article looks at the origins of the "first Cold War" for insight into how a second Cold War might be avoided. There is a danger of the Cold War turning hot because of power transition dynamics. This article also invokes the pre-1914 Anglo-German rivalry, and argues that if conflict is to be avoided, the U.S. must accommodate China's rise by yielding hegemony in East Asia and meeting China's status claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wedge strategy is a state's attempt to prevent, break up, or weaken a threatening or blocking alliance. An asymmetric alignment consists of a great power (the alignment leader) and a small/middle power (the weaker ally). So when does the wedge strategy of a great power (a divider) towards a competitive asymmetric alignment work? I propose, based upon the 'Crawford–Izumikawa debate', an 'interdependence theory' of wedge strategies. In the case of an asymmetric alignment that is symmetrically interdependent, the wedge strategy of a divider that accommodates the weaker ally is most likely to succeed. However, a wedge strategy towards an asymmetric alignment that is asymmetrically interdependent is highly likely to fail. I evaluate the theory based upon four wedge strategies adopted in Cold War Asia through analysing American, Russian, and Chinese archival sources. As asymmetrically interdependent, the US–Japan and US–Taiwan alliances offset the impact of Chinese wedge strategies. Between 1955 and 1965, therefore, neither Chinese accommodation nor Chinese pressure could detach weaker American allies from the United States in East Asia. However, China successfully exploited the symmetric interdependence of the US–Pakistan alliance. Between 1962 and 1965, China's accommodation of Pakistan prevented Pakistan from being used as an American base for containment purposes. Likewise, the Soviet Union took full advantage of the Sino–Vietnamese alignment's symmetric interdependence, whereby Soviet aid to North Vietnam caused rifts in Sino–Vietnamese relations that eventually wrecked the Sino–Vietnamese alignment. According to the theory, therefore, given the asymmetric interdependence of the hub-and-spokes system, any Chinese attempts to weaken US-sponsored alliances in East Asia would not be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the power shift narrative in Sino-Japanese interaction regarding the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in 2010. It states that the notion showing the rising of China, the declining of Japan, and the power shift in East Asia is compatible with the epistemological core of constructivism. It also discusses bilateral relationship between China and Japan, Japanese policymaking, and sovereign competition on two parties.

An essay is presented on tributary system and interstate relations in pre-modern East Asia, particularly China. The author says that relocating the history of East Asia into a global context leads to deeper understanding of the modern international relations (IR) of China as well as the tributary system. The author mentions that an organic part of the world history is East Asian regional history.

The article presents a study on legitimacy and authority in international relations of Japan and Korea under the early modern East Asian international system. It argues that different international systems entail different institutional norms and rules. It also discusses the role of the Tsushima clan in the Japan-Korea relations.