Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Editor's introduction The rise of Asia in International affairs John Doyle Centre for International Studies, School of Law and Government, Dublin CityUniversity This issue of Irish Studies in International Affairs is primarily concerned with the debate on the changing role ofAsia in international affairs at the startof the twenty first century. The volume draws on papers presented at theNovember 2006 annual conference of theRIA's Committee for the Study of International Affairs and from some others submitted directly to the journal. In relation to thematter of Asia's evolving influence, it is clearly impossible for one journal volume to tackle this huge issue in international affairs, but the selection of articles presented here makes an interesting contribution to this wider global debate. Irish minister for foreign affairsDermot Ahern, in a contribution drawing on his opening address to last year's conference, sets out the Irish government's perspectives on the growing engagement with Asia?in particular the increasing trade relationship, but also deeper relations in development assistance, in cultural and education links and inwider diplomacy. European Commission director-general for trade David O'Sullivan, in an article also based on his contribution to the 2006 conference, deals specifically with theEU's perspective on Asia's role in theworld economy. The next set of articles deals primarily with the sub-regional dimensions ofAsia's growing and changing role in international relations. Linda Yueh looks at the role of China?clearly now themajor economic powerhouse of the region and a country with an increasingly global focus in its foreign policy. In an analysis of China's gradualist path of reform and of the challenges to that strategy, shemakes the crucial point thatChina's growth has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and notes that the sheer scale of that advance will inevitably have major global impacts. Subrata K. Mitra and Jivanta Sch?ttli explore the changing dynamics of Indian foreign policy. They argue that increasingly, in the domestic political arena, India's leaders see their country as a global player, rather than as a low-income country with mass poverty. Yet, they argue that on some key issues there is an ambiguity to India's position, and an incoherence about her intentions?and likely reactions?on matters affecting her vital interests. Yee-Kuang Heng, in an analysis of Japan's position, argues thatwhile China might indeed become the pivotal Asian power sometime down the road, in the short-to-medium term Japan remains the pre eminent power, with Tokyo taking additional steps to safeguard that status. Bruce Cumings explores the ongoing challenges posed by the political situation on the Irish Studies in International Affairs. Vol. 18 (2007), 1-2. 2 Irish Studies in International Affairs Korean peninsula and how it is influenced by the rise inChina's position. Meredith Jung-En Woo looks at East Asia ten years after the financial crisis of 1997. In that period, she argues, the influence of theUS and Japan have declined to be replaced by the rising power that is China. Collectively, these articles demonstrate the local complexity of, but also the strong interconnections between, political developments throughout Asia. In a section on Irish policy-making three articles bring good, original research to the public domain. Kevin O'Sullivan looks at the origins of the Irish official development assistance programme in the period 1969 to 1975. This is a timely historical analysis at a point when the development-aid budget is rising rapidly in keeping with the Irish government's commitment to reach the UN target for developmentaid of 0.7% ofGNP by 2012. RobertKevlihan explores the limited nature of Ireland's relations with theCentral Asian states in the post-Soviet period and argues for a greater engagement given the region's strategic location. Finally in this section, Oisin Coghlan analyses Irish government decision-making on climate change policy, using a model of two-level game analysis to identify the changing influence of the domestic and international levels on government policy. In a section on international diplomacy and theNorthern Ireland conflict, there are two articles analysing relatively under-researched periods of international engagement on Northern Ireland. Daniel Williamson examines the early period...