Japan's New Regional Reality

This book provides a much-needed analysis of changes in Japan's regional economic strategy. In giving agency to the Japanese state, Katada makes a major contribution to our understanding not just of contemporary Japan, but of the region as a whole and the potential shape of the world order to come. -- Saadia Pekkanen, editor of <i>Asian Designs: Governance in the Contemporary World Order</i> At a time when the future of Asia is narrowly seen through the prism of U.S.-China great power competition, Katada persuasively demonstrates that Japan's quiet transformation-less mercantilist, more champion of liberalism-will shape the regional order. Her command of the nuanced evolution of Japan's foreign economic policy across diverse tracks-trade and investment, finance, and development aid-is unparalleled. Essential reading for anyone interested in Asian geoeconomics. -- Mireya Solis, author of <i>Dilemmas of a Trading Nation: Japan and the United States in the Evolving Asia-Pacific Order</i> This important book provides a convincing account of the remarkable shift by Japan to lead regional initiatives for liberal economic policy. Katada melds theory and empirical tests to explain how state-led liberalism arose to replace mercantilist industrial policies with a new era of Japanese foreign economic policy. Looking inside domestic decision-making processes and reflecting on the challenge of China's growing strength, the book offers a comprehensive synthesis. -- Christina L. Davis, author of <i>Why Adjudicate?: Enforcing Trade Rules in the WTO</i>