The East Asian International Order:A Study From The Perspective Of Modernity And Post-modernity

The East Asian order is in a period of great transformation.The academic community has already elucidated and constructed this historical event via a variety of theories.However,most of the existing research has been confined to the scholars'respective academic research fields,and rarely does a scholar observe and interpret the East Asian order independently of the international relations perspective.Thus to date only a handful of interdisciplinary research findings have been achieved.In fact,the East Asian order contains many crises,whose general characteristics and underlying causes are closely related to modernity.There are two ways to resolve the stalemate in modern East Asian politics:to transcend modernity and to subvert modernity.Regardless of the ultimate choice,the solution to the modernity dilemma always exists in post-modern theories and practices.Therefore,this paper proposes to analyze the generation,evolution and future forms of East Asian order respectively from the perspective of modernity and postmodernity.Today's East Asian political structure possesses many post-modern factors,and the analysis and summary of these factors constitute the first part of the article.For example,in terms of the fundamental dynamics of order-shaping,new breakthroughs have been made in the productivity level in East Asia;the importance of science and technology has outperformed any other kind of strategic resources;the new production structure and the social division of labor in East Asia have taken shape.As the core driving forces that dominates the change of order,the interactions among the great powers and the concurrence of powers have almost determined the direction of change in the East Asian order.On the other hand,the rise of fringe areas and the human factors in international politics highlighted in this region are variables to the trend of such changes as well.This article also believes that strategic resources can be divided into non-absolute strategic resources such as energy resources and absolute strategic resources such as nuclear weapons and Internet control technology.Thanks to the advancement of technology,the substitutability of non-absolute strategic resources has greatly increased,and the significance of such rescources has thus lessened.As nuclear attacks and Internet attacks may end up with devastating consequences,the degree of influence of absolute resources on the order pattern is rapidly increasing.The second part of the article mainly explains the possibility of the integration of modernity and postmodernity into international relations theory from an interdisciplinary perspective,and presents the contemporary crisis faced by modernity and the self-consistencism of postmodernity in adapting to comtemporary politics and culture from a theoretical point of view.This chapter is the linchpin of linking the theory of international relations with the history of East Asian order,the crisis of current order and the prospect of future order.As a prevailing philosophical research discourse,modernity and post-modernity theories are surrounded by a huge group of concepts whose meaning can point to historical analysis,social status,political behavior,cultural types,and cognitive patterns.This article does not have a special preference for any of the concepts above.In order to prove the correctness of the conclusion,the concepts of modernity and postmodernity are applied from diverse aspects.In the field of international relations,modernity has three salient features:the principles of rationality,freedom,and subjectivity.These three points can explain the contradiction refletced in modern international relations and the poverty encountered on the theoretical level:The simple thinking mode and the closed theoretical environment shaped by the principles of rationality,freedom,and subjectivity are the root causes of the crisis of modernity.In this regard,this article borrows the concept of postmodernity to analyze and delve into concepts which have long been hidden in international relations such as discourse power,deconstructionism,and text,and hence provides reasons for constructing an open international relations theory.In the third part,the article introduces the dual dilemma faced by modernity in the reconstruction of contemporary East Asian order:the predicament of concept and the plight of practice.The theory of rationalism in international relations is incapable of providing ideological benefits for the transformation and reconstruction of modern East Asian order.At present,East Asian countries are generally faced with the predicament of communication,communication and identification in terms of systems,culture,and power.Correspondingly,the current process of reshaping the East Asian order is confronted with three challenges:rebuilding the communication model,rebuilding the foundation of trust,and rebuilding the identity carrier.Rationalism not only occupies the absolute dominant position of discourse power in East Asian politics,but also contributes to a theoretical environment centered by itself.The final result is the formation of a rationalism discourse hegemony.As a result,international relations theory has unavoidably become rigid and extreme.Developmentism sets the direction for the country's existence,but this dimension does not leave room for values.Hence,risks fills the vacancy of values,causing the development of East Asia being exposed to risks all the way.The most significant achievement of the principle of subjectivity in international politics is the shaping of nationalism.Nationalism has extremely sensitive attributes.It keeps East Asian society in a state of confrontation and even opposition.Its conservative nature has also become an obstacle to the peace and cooperation in East Asia.The fourth chapter is the last chapter of the article.In this section,the article presents a liberating picture of the post-modern order:the rationalism discourse system that explains East Asian international relations and constructs the East Asian order is gradually collapsing,which is specifically revealed in the turn of discourse power;in the discourse expression,the localized resources are being paid closer attention to;in the construction of discourse,the factors of human nature have also been strengthened;the emerging powers in East Asian represented by China and ASEAN are gradually shaping the new East Asian views,new security concepts and new system propositions with characteristics of the region.With the fierce collision and blending of modernity and post-modernity,East Asian countries has started the exploration of cooperation models and community models with local characteristics.