Beyond the San Francisco System

This book, a eight-year interdisciplinary collaboration involving experts in international politics, law, economics, and history from six countries, meticulously analyzes the San Francisco Peace Treaty System and its profound implications. It critically examines how this system reflected the victim-centric approach of the United Nations while offering a crucial counter perspective from colonial and semi-colonial nations such as Korea and China, notably excluded from its initial formulation. The study specifically re-evaluates the treaty's impact through the crucial lens of human rights, addressing issues such as Japanese military sexual slavery and the Okinawa problem. In addition, the book meticulously tracks the subsequent 72-year evolution of this system in direct relation to the significant economic development and dynamic growth of civil society across East Asian regions. It compellingly argues that the ongoing Indo-Pacific collective security regime, strategically encircling China, represents a contemporary iteration, referred to as San Francisco System 2.0, drawing a clear distinction from its predecessor, San Francisco System 1.0. Ultimately, the focus is on an extensive exploration of the essential conditions required for establishing a truly genuine and lasting system of peace in the region.