Larry Catá Backer, W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law & International Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University, will be discussing current relations between Japan and Chinaundefineda complex interplay of politics and economics. In light of recent global developments, not the least of which being the worldwide financial crisis and recession, territorial disputes, China’s high economic growth, and Japan’s relative stagnation, the characterization of the two nations’ relationship has become complicated and problematic. Professor Backer will unveil some of the complexities of the relationship as well as discuss the implications of the immense tension palpable in the Asia-Pacific region.

LARRY CATÁ BACKER is the W. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholar and Professor of Law & International Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University (B.A. Brandeis University; M.P.P. Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; J.D. Columbia University). He serves as Chair of the Faculty Senate of the Pennsylvania State University (2012-2013). He is the founder and director of the Coalition for Peace & Ethics, and has visited at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1998) and Tulane Law School (2007-2008). His research focuses on governance related issues of globalization and the constitutional theories of public and private governance, with a focus on institutional frameworks where public and private law systems converge. He is particularly interested in issues of corporate social responsibility, the relationship between state-based regulation and transnational systems of “soft” regulation, state participation in private markets and State-Party constitutionalism with a focus on Asia. He teaches courses in corporate law, transnational law, and International Organizations. Shorter essays on various aspects of globalization and governance appear on his essay site, “Law at the End of the Day,” http://lcbackerblog.blogspot.com. His publications and other work are available on his personal website: http://www.backerinlaw.com/Site/ or through the Social Science Research Network: http://ssrn.com/author=259226.

Lecture series sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc.