Organizer and Chair: Kyung Ae Park, University of British Columbia
Discussants: B. C. Koh, University of Illinois; Parris H. Chang, Senator, Legislative
Yuan, Taipei; Kyung Ae Park, University of British Columbia; Chalmers Johnson, University
of California, San Diego; Chae-Jin Lee, Claremont McKenna College; John Merrill,
Department of State, Washington, D.C.
Although little attention has been paid to small states in the world of the strong, they have played prominent roles in international politics and have been sources of constant tension and conflict. Being small, they have often been able to gain advantages from the superpowers. During the Cold-War era, the 'power of the weak' was explained mainly by rivalry between the superpowers, which made power into a scarce commodity even for superpowers. They could hardly spare any power to deal with various irritations caused by small powers.
The purpose of this round table is to examine the roles and powers of North and South Korea in their relations with China, Japan and the U.S. It will examine how the roles and powers of small states can be explained in the absence of a superpower rivalry during the post Cold-War era.
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