Southeast Asia In The New World Order

This multi-authored book looks at one of the most dynamic regions of the Third World within the context of the rapidly changing international system of the 1990s. Among the many themes it explores are ASEAN's new political roles and new modes of economic cooperation, the growing importance of ecological and human rights issues, the policies of the major external powers towards the region, the Cambodian and Spratly conflicts, and the relevance of Southeast Asian experience in the 'New World Order' to the ongoing theoretical debates about democracy, the market, the state and multilateralism.

Nowhere is the historic global transformation creating a new international context more striking than in East and South Asia. Leading specialists here discuss key economic and political changes within the region, and the impact of the Asian economic miracle on global politics and international relations. Prospects for growth, democracy and security are investigated in depth as well as their implications for other powers in the post cold-war world.

Asia-Pacific in the New World Order critically explores the notion that a distinctive regional power bloc is developing linking countries bordering the Pacific, with East Asia at its core. This student-friendly volume sheds light on the complex interplay between global, regional and national forces which have transformed the Asia-Pacific area into one of the most vibrant and economically successful regions in the world. Historical narratives alongside geopolitical and geoeconomic perspectives are deployed to examine the shifting pattern of power relations and security structures across the region, set within a wider world context. Key issues addressed include: * what are the primary security problems of the region and how are they being resolved? * does the dynamic growth of the region, and particularly the rise of China, pose a challenge to existing structures of world order? The text has a strong interdisciplinary flavour drawing on analytical approaches from the international relations, political economy and political geography literature. Authors have been drawn from the Asia-Pacific region and the UK and all are established scholars in their specialist fields.

This book reconsiders the nature and formation of Asia's economic order during the 1930s and 1950s in light of the new historiographical developments in Britain and Japan. Recently several Japanese economic historians have offered a new perspective on Asian history, arguing that economic growth was fuelled by the phenomenon of intra-Asian trade which began to grow rapidly around the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. On the other side, British imperial historians, P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins, have presented their own interpretation of 'gentlemanly capitalism', in which they emphasize the leading role of the service sector rather than that of British industry in assessing the nature of the British presence overseas. In order to assess and test these new perspectives, this volume addresses three key issues. The first is to reconsider the metropolitan-peripheral relationship in Asia, focusing particularly on the role of the sterling area and its implications for Asian economic development. The second is to examine the formation of inter-regional trade relations within Asia in the 1930s and their revival and transformation in the 1950s. The final issue is the comparison of the international order of Asia of the 1930s with the 1950s, and the degree to which the Second World War represented a break-point in Asia's economic development. Dealing with issues of trade, economy, nationalism and imperialism, this book provides fresh insights into the development of Asia during the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on the latest scholarship it will prove invaluable to all who wish to better understand the position of countries such as Japan, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Korea within the wider international order.

Where Great Powers Meet explores the global competition for power between the United States and China. Focusing on Southeast Asia, David Shambaugh looks at how ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the countries within it maneuver between the US and China and the degree to which they align with one or the other power. Not simply an analysis of the region's place within an evolving international system, Where Great Powers Meetprovides us with a comprehensive strategy that advances the American position while exploiting Chinese weaknesses.

"Southeast Asia in the New International Era highlights the dramatic political events sweeping a dynamic region populated by more than 500 million people. Where economic boom and crisis dominated events in the late twentieth century, economic recovery and policy dilemmas define much of the region today. Political cleavage continues to bedevil Thailand's intermittent democratization. Vietnam's single-party rule fosters ever tighter political control as it reacts to lagging economic growth. Surprising many, Burma's once closed polity now shows signs of genuine reform and openness. Elsewhere, patronage politics continues to inhibit development in the Philippines even as it fuels unprecedented growth in Cambodia and Laos. Home to the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia blazes new ground with young democratic institutions while simmering aspirations for greater democracy in neighboring Malaysia generate mass protest. Representing the greatest contrast in the region is the rich and stable, corporatist state of Singapore versus the economically poor and politically fragile democracy of Timor-Leste. Amidst domestic developments, ASEAN's global profile continues to rise as the region's governments address a growing array of transnational concerns. This newly revised edition examines these developments and many others affecting the region and international political economy"--Provided by publisher.