War and Peace: Lessons from East Asian History

This panel adopts a historical and IR perspective to investigate the roots of war and peace in East Asia. The five studies focus on two main themes: conflicts and peace among hegemons, and the interactions between hegemons and medium and small countries. Specifically, they examine the durability of peace between the Northern Song and Khitan empires following the Xiongzhou Peace and Chanyuan Covenant, the Qing emperors' misperceptions about China’s economic coercive power in dealing with Western nations and the Qing's subsequent defeat in the Opium War, a comprehensive analysis of the survivability of medium and small countries in East Asia with a focus on China’s relations with its neighbors, the impact of "civic religion" on the expansionist policies of the Qing Empire and Tsarist Russia in the 17th century, and the strategies Vietnam used to navigate its asymmetrical relationship with China since the 11th century. The first two papers apply neo-classical realism and examine perception and misperception, while the latter three emphasize both power and ideational factors in shaping asymmetrical relations between hegemons and medium and small countries. These two lines of inquiry—hegemonic rivalry and asymmetrical relations—are central to modern international relations, and the History and IR approach provides a powerful framework for analyzing major 21st-century global events.