| Review of: | Japan and Enlarged Europe: Partners in Global Governance edited by T. Ueta, R. Remacle |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Richard G. Whitman |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Common Market Studies |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 45, Issue 03, Pages 745-769 |
Book Reviews
The field of EU-Japan relations is surprisingly thin and this volume adds to a small body of literature on the contemporary relationship. The volume is a collection of 15 contributions to a series of seminars held between 2001 and 2003 and converted into chapters updated to take account of more recent developments. The book is divided into three main parts: the first examines the security relationship between the EU and Japan; the second looks at the international sustainable development agenda and compares and contrasts the Japanese and EU standpoints; the third part of the volume looks at issues of global governance and the extent to which the EU and Japan are complimentary or competitive actors across a range of issues.
The authors are evenly drawn from Europe and Japan and, as might be expected of a volume based upon seminar presentations, the contributions are variable in quality. This is a book which is empirically rich but generally does not seek to encumber itself with reflections on methodological, epistemological or theoretical issues (an exception being the chapter by Teló on the concept of civilian power). Where the volume is at its most interesting is in the contributions that directly compare and contrast approaches to policy issues in Japan and the EU (the contributions by Onta on environmental foreign policy; Karasinska-Fendler on the global trade agenda; and Seidelmann on the prospects and limits on co-operation in the UN and the G8). The two chapters that examine how the EU and Japan are responding to wider developments within international relations (Van Langenhove and Costea on the 'new regionalism'; and Cameron on a 'new global order') are particularly insightful.
A surprising omission from the book are any chapters examining in depth how the EU and Japan are responding to the contemporary challenge of China. This is of particular surprise as China does represent a significant challenge to the positions of both the EU and Japan (as the subtitle of the volume suggests) as prospective 'partners in global governance' and both are defined by the editors as sharing the common characteristics of being 'civilian powers'.
The volume would have benefited from a stronger introduction setting out a range of issues with which the EU and Japan are grappling and where one might find accord and dissonance in the relationship. Furthermore the book lacks a conclusion drawing together the parts of the volume and offering reflections on the future of EU-Japan relations. This does mean that there is still plenty of scope for the scholars contributing to this volume - and others - to offer further reflections on the relationship between the EU and Japan.