Summary
Bringing together some of the most innovative scholars in both the English School of international relations and East Asian studies, this volume investigates whether or not significant and distinct international social structures exist at the regional level represented by ‘East Asia’, and what this can tell us about international society both regionally and globally. The book’s main finding is that the regional dispute over how its states and peoples should relate to the Western-dominated global international society makes the existence of East Asian international society essentially contested. While this regional-global social dynamic is present in many regions, it is particularly strong in East Asia. This book will appeal to audiences interested in developing English School theory, the study of East Asian international relations and comparative regionalism.

• The first book comprehensively to apply the English School theory of international society to contemporary East Asia, providing a new perspective on the social structure of the region
• Balances materialist theoretical approaches to East Asia with social ones, and sets these into a deep historical context, giving a deeper and more nuanced view of East Asian international relations, institutions, and the role of the US in the region
• Applies and develops the English School framework of primary institutions as a way to study international society, opening up a new mode of comparison for comparative regionalists, posing new empirical questions to English School theorists, and offering a competitive theoretical understanding of East Asian regionalism