Parallax Visions

Making Sense of American-East Asian Relations at the End of the Century

by Bruce Cumings

Published by: Duke University Press

Series: Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society

Imprint: Duke University Press Books

288 Pages, David Whitehouse, International Socialist Review

Paperback
9780822329244
Published: July 2002

£26.99

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Hardcover
9780822322764
Published: May 1999

£112.00

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Praise

In a work that synthesizes crucial developments in international relations at the close of the twentieth century, Bruce Cumings-a leading historian of contemporary East Asia-provides a nuanced understanding of how the United States has loomed over the modern history and culture of East Asia. By offering correctives to widely held yet largely inaccurate assessments of the affairs of this region, Parallax Visions shows how relations between the United States, Japan, Vietnam, North and South Korea, China, and Taiwan have been structured by their perceptions and misperceptions of each other.

Using information based on thirty years of research, Cumings offers a new perspective on a wide range of issues that originated with the cold war-with particular focus on the possibly inappropriate collaboration between universities, foundations, and intelligence agencies. Seeking to explode the presuppositions that Americans usually bring to the understanding of our relations with East Asia, the study ranges over much of the history of the twentieth century in East Asian–American relations-Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Korean War, and more recent difficulties in U.S. relations with China and Japan. Cumings also rebuts U.S. media coverage of North Korea’s nuclear diplomacy in the 1990s and examines how experiences of colonialism and postcolonialism have had varying effects on economic development in each of these countries. Positing that the central defining experience of twentieth-century East Asia has been its entanglement first with British and Japanese imperialism, and then with the United States, Cumings ends with a discussion of how the situation could change over the next century as the economic and political global clout of the United States declines.

Illuminating the sometimes self-deluded ideology of cold war America, Parallax Visions will engage historians, political scientists, and students and scholars of comparative politics and social theory, as well as readers interested in questions of modernity and the role of the United States in shaping the destinies of modernizing societies in Asia.

“[A] new look at American-East Asian relations in the 20th century. . . . Cumings excels in offering new perspectives on the American vision. . . . [E]ngaging.” - Choice

“To get at the ‘big picture’ of United States-East Asian relations, Cumings employs an historically grounded Wallersteinian world-systems approach, focusing on the fundamental relationships among and between the United States and East Asian states rather than on the vicissitudes of specific policies respecting concrete issues. . . . Cumings has made a considerable contribution to elucidating the fundamental structures of U.S.-East Asian relations.” - Steven I. Levine, The International History Review

“[P]rovocative, . . . literate, . . . intellectually challenging, . . . and fun.” - Solomon M. Karmel, International Affairs

“Bruce Cuming’s work over the years has provided an original and critical (and always stimulating) excursion into the history and political economy of twentieth century East Asia. Parallax Visions is no exception in this regard. It should be read by anyone remotely interested in the history and future of the Asia-Pacific region.” - Mark T. Berger, H-Net Reviews

“[A] rational and realistic appraisal of American policy.” - Frank Tipton, Journal of World History

“[A] fascinating collection of essays on late-20th-century Asian history and contemporary Asian affairs. . . . Parallax Visions forces the reader to revisit unpleasant dimensions in the Pacific War and to reconsider how we view North Korea. Chapter two should be required reading for any lesson on just war-particularly the sections on how the Pacific War began and ended. Chapter five, meanwhile, should be read by anyone seeking a fuller understanding of the standoff on the Korean peninsula.” - Andrew Scobell, Parameters

“Cumings’s views derive from a close study of East Asia over several decades and produce insights that are devastating to American amour propre. His is not just a new perspective but also the source of truly unknown information. There is no other voice quite like that of Bruce Cumings.”-Chalmers Johnson, Japan Policy Research Institute