A workshop with Gavan McCormack, Professor Emeritus, Australian National University and author of Client State (Verso, 2007). The world's No. 2 power is a paradox. McCormack argues, following his recent book, that understanding of Japan has to begin from grasping its fundamental contradiction, as a 'client state'. Since the end of the Cold War, US pressure has been steadily applied to bring Japan in line with neoliberal principles, including comprehensive institutional reform and a thorough revamp of the security and defense relationship between the two countries. The politics of national assertiveness. Co-sponsor: Center for East Asian Studies.