The Clash of Global and Regional Norms and Their Implications to East Asia

Abstract

The rise of China is especially contentious to international politics. It is one of the few remaining non democratic regimes that contradict with the current liberal order. This paper, however, argues that from a normative perspective, China`s ascendance should be seen within the historical context of the East Asian region. This historical regional order has implications to the contemporary East Asian regional order especially with the re rising of China. In order to illustrate my argument, the paper will discuss norms from a western and East Asian perspective. Based on this discussion, it will find implications to contemporary international relations, particularly during the periods of George Bush II (2000-2008) and Hu Jintao (2002-2012) governments. This paper finds that on the one hand, the US during the Bush II administration has rekindled old and new enemies under the guidance of exporting democracy. On the other hand, China under Hu Jintao`s leadership seemingly has seen less conflict and instead tried to foster more cooperation within the region. It is quite paradoxical the different outcomes that the two leaderships have brought about. Thus, it is time to review the significance of norms to better understand the two different political consequences.