This course examines US economic relations with East Asia, defined for our purposes as including Japan, China, South and North Korea, Taiwan and the member states of ASEAN. The Asia-Pacific is a region of extraordinary importance across virtually all aspects of global politics and economics. It is also a region filled with apparent contradictions and unresolved questions. It is thus vitally important for students and practitioners of International relations to develop a reasonable grasp of the region and the policy implications for the United States. The United States, China, and Japan comprise the world’s three largest economies by purchasing power, but China is also a developing economy with a non-convertible currency. East Asian states are involved in an ambitious attempt to create regional institutions to support their growing economic integration, and yet suspicions between the two natural leaders of East Asia – China and Japan – have been conspicuous in numerous ways. The Asia-Pacific is being pushed together and pulled apart on an ongoing basis by military and economic trends arising both locally and globally. The key questions are whether the region is headed toward greater cooperation or conflict and how the U.S. may be able to affect the direction. The first half of the semester will focus on the trade and investment policies of the countries in the region and bilateral economic relations with the U.S. In the second half we will turn our attention to the regional economic integration and its implications for the U.S.