Puppet States Revisited: Empire and Sovereign Subordination in Modern Asia

The project analyses the place of 'puppet' states in modern Asian history, placing a contentious issue at the centre of a rigorous comparative investigation. It closely examines the Japanese-sponsored 'puppet' state of Manchukuo (1932-45), the Dutch-sponsored federal 'puppet' states in Indonesia (1946-50) and the Japanese-sponsored wartime state of Burma (1943-45) to determine the extent of external control and the relationship of these states to local political aspirations. This study will be the first to scrutinize the term puppet state as an analytical concept and will contribute to the understanding of the history of imperialism in Asia and to the comprehension of state hierarchies in the international system.