"As the Cold War wound down, Japan suddenly reversed years of steadfast opposition to security alliances with its neighbors. Long isolated and opposed to multilateral agreements, Japan emerged as a regional leader by the early 1990s. The nation, often misperceived as wholly dependent on the United States and unresponsive to its neighbors, proposed East Asia's first regional multilateral security forum. Overcoming Isolationism explores what led to this surprising about-face and reveals the legacy of Japan's leadership"--