Citizenship as a national and transnational enterprise: How education shapes regional and global relevance

Sovereign territory is a critical national institution and international law is the means for its institutionalization. It also has sanctity in regionalization projects. Regardless of whether the European Union is a good or bad idea or whether it has a chance of succeeding, one of the most important preconditions for a state’s entry into a regional union is the absence of border disputes. This chapter argues existing international laws; the situation could not look more different in Asia, especially Northeast Asia. From China’s refusal to recognize Taiwan as a separate entity to the painful, protracted way of life that is the Korean War, Asia is rife with big-ticket border problems. It remains squarely centered on Japan because while each nation in Northeast Asia has its own serious border disputes, Japanese leaders and policy-makers appear to be going beyond other countries by drawing increasingly rigid borders with the country’s surrounding neighbors.