This broad-based study of Western-Asian relations considers images of and actions by the United States, along with Britain and Germany, in the course of dealings with Asian nations such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Other case studies focus on inter-Asian relations between Japan and Korea; China and Japan; and Thailand and Vietnam. The essays encompass a wide range of recent scholarship, including cultural, economic, demographic, and intellectual approaches to military and diplomatic themes.

Western influence, primarily American, in Asia grew consistently during the 20th century. While interaction often occurred on unequal terms, this study reveals the ability of Asians to assert their agency in the face of such immense Western power. The collection as a whole offers a window on relations across the Pacific in numerous spheres of activity over the course of one hundred years. As such, it introduces and adds to our understanding of the depth and variety of trans-Pacific relations.

Introduction: The United States and the West in Asia in the Twentieth Century: The Growth and Limits of Power by Jon Davidann
The West Turns to Asia: The United States, Europe, Japan, and China, 1880 to WWII
The Rise of an American Principle in China: A Reinterpretation of the First Open Door Notes Toward China by Yone Sugita
Citadels of Civilization: U.S. and Japanese Visions of World Order in the Interwar Period by Jon Davidann
U.S. and German Military and Naval Attaches in Japan, 1931-1939 by William Voss
Struggle for National Survival: Eugenics in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Population Policies by Juliette Chung
American Entrenchment in Asia: World War II, Occupation, and Neo-Colonialism
The Pacific War: An Interpretation by Mark Parillo
Japanese and American Images of Koreans: A Tale of Two Occupations by Mark Caprio
American Military Bases in the Philippines, 1945-1965: Neo-Colonialism and Its Demise by Julian Madison
The Limits of Power: The U.S. in Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand in the Cold War
The Korean War: An Interpretive History by Stanley Sandler
Victory and Defeat in the Vietnam War by Richard Jensen
The Vietnam War, Thailand, and the United States by Arne Kislenko
Orbiting the Western Sun: The Western Impact in Japan and China
America and the Japanese Miracle: The Economic Nexus, 1945-2000 by Aaron Forsberg
China and the Dissipation of Moral Authority: China Looks West after Mao by Jennifer Hubbert