"As the Cold War wound down, Japan suddenly reversed years of steadfast opposition to security alliances with its neighbors. Long isolated and opposed to multilateral agreements, Japan emerged as a regional leader by the early 1990s. The nation, often misperceived as wholly dependent on the United States and unresponsive to its neighbors, proposed East Asia's first regional multilateral security forum. Overcoming Isolationism explores what led to this surprising about-face and reveals the legacy of Japan's leadership"--

Paul Midford is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Political Science and Director of the Japan Program at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. His books include Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Stanford, 2011).

1. Understanding Why States Pursue Regional Security Multilateralism
2. Japan and Its Regional Security Isolationism During the Cold War
3. Rethinking Regional Security Isolationism and Multilateralism
4. The Making of the Nakayama Proposal
5. Delivering and Defending the Nakayama Proposal
6. The Miyazawa Initiatives and Japan's Leadership in Creating the ASEAN Regional Forum
7. Japan and Regional Security Multilateralism, 1994-2000
8. Japan and Widening Regional Security Multilateralism