This course aims to enable students to develop an understanding of the complex place East Asia holds within the current era of globalization. To understand how East Asia (Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) transformed, after the Second World War, from an economic backwater into one of the main pillars of the global economy, the course offers a detailed overview of the East Asian Development Model and an exploration of Developmental State theory. The course uses a comparative approach to highlight the factors that enabled East Asia to become one of the major economic, political and cultural poles of the global order. It also offers a comprehensive overview of globalization as a multifaceted process, with not only economic, but also ideological and cultural dimensions.