Introduction
Abstract
International Relations of the Asia-Paciï¬c Volume 10 (2010) 383â 388 doi:10.1093/irap/lcq007 Advance Access published on 16 August 2010 G. John Ikenberry 1 and Takashi Inoguchi2 Department of Politics, Princeton University, 012 Bendheim Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA; and 2University of Niigata Prefecture, 471 Ebigase, Higashi-ku, Niigata-shi, Niigata-ken 950-8680, Japan E-mail: inoguchi@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp Over the last half century, the United States has been a dominating presence in East Asia. In the shadow of the Cold War, a regional order took shape organized around an array of bilateral alliances and an open trade system â all tied to the United States. In this American-led regional hegemonic order, the United States provided security through security agreements and the forward deployment of its forces while it supported the expansion and integration of East Asian countries in the context of an open multilateral world economy. The United StatesâJapan alliance was the cornerstone of this regional order. In the background, the East Asian region was nested within the wider Cold War-era American-led Western order. After the Cold War ended, this Pax Americana was extended outward throughout the globe. Alliances, free trade, multilateral institutions, democratic community, and American hegemony all went together. At various moments