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This book focuses on the defence policy of the Nakasone administration and attempts to provide an explanation for the policy measures which its administration implemented or initiated. It suggests that the widening disparity between economic interests and political power forced Japan to review the traditional bases for defence policy making and prompted the search for a balance that would allow the country a more active role in the international sphere. The book is organized around the central theme that Nakasone's defence policy can be understood as an attempt to rehabilitate Japan as a 'normal' state and end the state of affairs that had relegated it to a unique, and low, position.
This book provides complete, yet non-technical, analyses of production fragmentation effects and thus targets a wide range of readers - including academics, researchers, policymakers, students, entrepreneurs, and anyone who is interested in this subject. It investigates the economic impacts of production fragmentation in Southeast Asia with a focus on Thailand's experience as an emerging global hub of fragmentation and outsourcing. This elucidates new evidence in connection with production, industrial organizations and labour economics theories, providing interesting insights for formulating industrialization and labour development policies.
Asia will redraw the map of economic progress over the next twenty-five years. Growth is necessary to solve economic and social problems, but harder to achieve as the age of plenty gives way to the age of scarcities. The challenge opens the doors for an Asian economic model based on shifting of productivity for the individual to groups, ecological productivity instead of economic productivity, and a reversal to traditional Asian values - less materialistic than Western values. A new paradigm for economic thinking emerges to replace the one launched in the West 200 years ago.
"This book entitled ASEAN-U.S. Relations: What Are the Talking Points? is a result of a workshop organized by the ASEAN Studies Centre of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. The workshop was timely then, as the two sides, all of ASEAN, and the United States held their first-ever summit in Singapore in November 2009, heralding a new era of renewed engagement. The United States is very important for ASEAN, as a guarantor of regional stability and a vast market for ASEAN products. At the same time, ASEAN has gained more public attention from the United States, particularly since the advent of the Obama administration. This publication will serve as a reminder that ASEAN and the United States have shared many benefits as well as concerns for many years. Their continued engagement will undoubtedly ensure regional peace and order. I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in ASEANs external relations." –Professor Charnvit KasetsiriFormer Rector of Thammasat University and Visiting Professorial Fellow, ISEAS"Much has been made in the last few years of Washington's 're-engagement' with ASEAN, warmer ties with several Southeast Asian states, and the review of U.S. policy towards Myanmar. What explains this change and where are U.S.-ASEAN ties headed in the future? This timely collection of short essays and speeches by eleven leading academics and senior officials provides valuable background to what it calls a 'new era' in U.S. policy and thoughtfully explores where future challenges and opportunities might lie. The chapters are practically focused and forward looking, offering critical perspectives as well as policy recommendations. Covering security issues, aid, Myanmar, the South China Sea, and the evolving U.S. role in regional institutions, ASEAN-U.S. Relations: What Are the Talking Points? will be essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the changing dynamics of American policy in Southeast Asia."– Dr David CapieSenior Lecturer in International RelationsVictoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Three decades of authoritarian rule in Indonesia came to a sudden end in 1998. The collapse of the Soeharto regime was accompanied by massive economic decline, widespread rioting, communal conflict, and fears that the nation was approaching the brink of disintegration. Although the fall of Soeharto opened the way towards democratization, conditions were by no means propitious for political reform. This book asks how political reform could proceed despite such unpromising circumstances. It examines electoral and constitutional reform, the decentralization of a highly centralized regime, the gradual but incomplete withdrawal of the military from its deep political involvement, the launching of an anti-corruption campaign, and the achievement of peace in two provinces that had been devastated by communal violence and regional rebellion.
The Republic of Korea's global expansion has been mirrored by its interest and presence in Southeast Asia. From trade, investment, aid, tourism, to the cultural "Korean wave", its various roles have blossomed and its influence has grown. The ASEAN region has not only affected Korean foreign policy, but also many aspects of Korean life, from the migration of Southeast Asian industrial workers to marriages and the curricula of academic institutions. This volume explores various aspects of these new relationships and their importance to all concerned parties. It brings together a group of specialists who have documented the growing interlocking roles between Korea and ASEAN and its constituent states in detail. These developments have profound implications for relations in the East and Southeast Asian regions, and for the world as a whole.
This book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the great financial crisis of 2007-09. It combines the disciplines of economics, finance, sociology and politics to analyse the causes, consequences and challenges of the crisis. The authors propose that the causes of the crisis should be understood at three inter-related levels - the level of theory and ideology; the level of financial industry practices and malpractices; and finally the level of structural imbalances in the international economy. Above all, the book is historical and holistic in perspective. This book is an excellent read for the critical layman interested in understanding the causes that underlie the global financial crisis. The authors combine the inquisitive and critical mind of a scholar and the lucid writing style of a journalist. The book provides a perspective on the crisis that is both practical and down to earth and at the same time, rigorous and holistic. Khor Hoe Ee, Chief Economist, Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, and former Assistant Managing Director, Economics, Monetary Authority of Singapore The authors trace the rise of finance and its domination over the real economy, the consequences of financial innovation and deregulation for systemic fragility, and the failure of conventional economic and financial theory to analyse and anticipate the consequent dangers. Their main original contribution is to relate these Western market developments to recent trends in the East Asian region and to call for appropriate systemic reforms, not only to avoid similar future crises, but also to address other underlying development and analytical problems. K.S. Jomo, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations In linking wealth and income distribution to financial instability, this book makes an important point that is often missed in the debate on the crisis. Central Banks have become strongly opposed to the idea of accommodating wage demands with the help of monetary easing, but they have been increasingly tolerant, or even supportive, of debt-financed consumption and asset inflation. Indeed, by serving to concentrate wealth further in the hands of a small rentier class, while protecting that class from the risks of debt defaults, they are only adding to systemic pressures that give rise to serious financial crises.Yilmaz Akyuz, Special Economic Advisor, South Centre, and former Chief Economist at United Nations Conference for Trade and Development
This study of the so-called "Green Revolution" in the rice bowl region of Malaysia aims to provide an interpretation of recent changes in the Malaysian agrarian structure, and to make an analytical and theoretical contribution to the long-standing intellectual debate on the "agrarian question". By joining the micro-world of household social structure and economy to the macro-world of changes in production relations, it traces out a specific trajectory of agrarian development in Malaysia.
"Once celebrated in the Western media as a shining example of a 'liberal' and 'tolerant' Islam, Indonesia since the end of the Soeharto regime (May 1998) has witnessed a variety of developments that bespeak a conservative turn in the country’s Muslim politics. In this timely collection of original essays, Martin van Bruinessen, our most distinguished senior Western scholar of Indonesian Islam, and four leading Indonesian Muslim scholars explore and explain these developments. Each chapter examines recent trends from a strategic institutional perch: the Council of Indonesian Muslim scholars, the reformist Muhammadiyah, South Sulawesi's Committee for the Implementation of Islamic Shari'a, and radical Islamism in Solo. With van Bruinessen's brilliantly synthetic introduction and conclusion, these essays shed a bright light on what Indonesian Muslim politics was and where it seems to be going. The analysis is complex and by no means uniformly dire. For readers interested in Indonesian Muslim politics, and for analysts interested in the dialectical interplay of progressive and conservative Islam, this book is fascinating and essential reading."—Robert Hefner, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, Boston University"Indonesian Islam has been (and still is) largely known as Islam with 'smiling faces'. But in the last decade at least, drawing benefit from the democratic opening up, some figures and groups introduced radical Islamic ideas and praxis that have transnational origins that in turn could affect the future of Indonesian Islam. This book is an excellent anthology of this disturbing development brought about by the so-called 'conservative turn' within certain elements of moderate Islam in the largest Muslim country in the world. There is no doubt that this book contributes a great deal to a better grasp of some recent development to watch in Indonesian Islam."—Azyumardi Azra, Professor of History, Director of Graduate School, State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia"Over the course of the past decade, journalists and other observers have noted a 'conservative turn' in Indonesian Islam, but without seriously investigating or explaining the nature and extent of the transformation(s) under way. With the publication of this excellent new volume, Martin van Bruinessen and his collaborators have now provided a fine-grained account of the complex and diverse manifestations of this 'conservative turn', with in-depth treatments of developments and trends across a range of different arenas and institutions - and regions - of Indonesian Islam. Van Bruinessen has always been a pioneering figure in the study of Islam in Indonesia, and with this volume he once again brings unparalleled insight and illumination to our understanding of Islamic life in the archipelago. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in Indonesian politics and society today."—John Sidel, Professor of International and Comparative Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science
The creation of a national school of Islamic law in Indonesia has been on the legal agenda for the past fifty years. This book is a summary of what has been achieved. The material shows us a complex range of references for syariah. These include the formal structures of a "new fiqh", philosophies of law, transmissions of syariah through tertiary curricula and the Friday sermon in mosques, a bureaucratic form for conducting the Hajj, and contemporary debates on syariah values as expressions of public morality. Together these references indicate just how elusive the meaning of syariah has become in contemporary Indonesia.
“Different under God is the first substantial, comprehensive and scientific analysis of Christianity in Singapore, covering religious, social and political attitudes. This survey by Terence Chong and Hui Yew-Foong will be enthusiastically welcomed by today’s sociologists and historians in the future. An important and timely contribution to the sociology of religion and to the study of Singapore.”—Bryan S. Turner, Presidential Professor of Sociology, the Graduate Centre, the City, University of New York, USA“This is a landmark study of Christianity in Singapore that is sorely needed today, not only to confirm many scholarly guesses, but also to dispel public stereotypes of Christians as homogeneously sheep-like or militant. Scholars and Singaporeans beware, Terence and Yew-Foong have started a fire that will enliven public discourse on religion and society for years to come.”—Daniel P.S. Goh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, National University of Singapore“Analysing individual and discussion-group responses from churchgoers in both mainline denominations and independent churches, this study grapples with a number of highly-relevant, even sensitive issues in contemporary Christianity: issues of moral values and attitudes (including those on sexuality and sexual orientation), money and giving, organizational belonging, governance, and others. While some of the findings and conclusions may reinforce broad perceptions of Christianity and churches in Singapore, others were quite eye-opening. Also useful for researchers, the study contains important data on respondents’ socio-economic backgrounds. All in all it is a most welcome scholarly contribution, and I expect that it will be a well-cited resource for future scholarship.” —Robbie B.H. Goh, Professor of English Literature, National University of Singapore
This book focuses on constitutional reform in Indonesia (1999–2002) from the perspective of shari'a. Since the end of Soeharto's New Order government in 1998, Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, has amended the 1945 Constitution four times. Soeharto's departure also opened the way for several Muslim groups and political parties to propose the introduction of shari'a into the Constitution. This book poses the crucial question implicit in the amendments to the 1945 Constitution: can shari'a and democratic constitutionalism be fused without compromising on human rights, the rule of law, and religious liberty? The contributions of Islamic political parties in Indonesia to the process and the outcome of the amendments, by adopting a substantive shari'a approach, reflect the ability to deal with a modern Constitution without abandoning the principles and the objectives of shari'a. The study reveals one possible picture of how Islam and constitutionalism can co-exist in the same vision, not without risk of tension, but with the possibility of success.
What is being done to counter threats of maritime terrorism and how effective are the safeguards? The author presents evidence that Al-Qaeda aims to disrupt the seaborne trading system, the backbone of the model global economy, and would use a crude nuclear explosive device or radiological bomb to do so if it could obtain one and position it to go off in a port-city, shipping strait or waterway that plays a key role in international trade. Improving maritime trade is especially important for the US and Canada, member states of the EU, Australia and New Zealand and for China, Japan and South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and other East Asian economies that have extensive direct seaborne trade. It is doubly vital for places like Singapore, Hong Kong and Rotterdam that are not only very large global seaports but also giant giant container transshipment hubs. This book discusses some major threats to seaborne trade and its land links in the global supply chain, their potential impact and the new security measures in place or pending for ships, ports and cargo containers, and recommendations for preventing or handling a catastrophic terrorist attack designed to disrupt world trade.
This book analyses the process of modernization of health and healing practices, and documents in detail the current trend among people who use both traditional and modern medicine. It has two unique and important features. One is the focus - five nations in Asia (China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand) which are at different stages of social and economic development, are studied and compared, providing a current and detailed picture of the combination of traditional and modern ways of healing. The second unique feature is that each chapter is written by scholars who not only have the advantage of firsthand knowledge of the situation in their respective countries but also bring into their analyses their extensive research experience in the areas of medical sociology and medical history. Moreover, as a book written in English, it offers valuable up-to-date information on the Chinese, Japanese and Thai health care systems, which is usually not accessible to readers unfamiliar with these languages.
This volume examines different ethnic configurations and conflict avoidance and resolution in five different Southeast Asian countries. Tin Maung Maung Than traces the history and impossibility of the current Myanmar regime's quest to integrate the various ethnic groups in the border regions while insisting on a unitary state with all real power kept to themselves.Rizal Sukma divides conflicts in Indonesia into horizontal (Kalimantan, Maluku and Sulawesi) and vertical ones (the Madurese versus the Dayaks) and assesses the prospects for peaceful resolution if the country's fledgling democracy does not properly address them.Miriam Coronel Ferrer examines the conflicts in Mindanao against the apparent lack of willingness of Manila to come to terms with the root causes as well as the infusion of arms and ideology from outside.Zakaria Haji Ahmad and Suzaina Kadir analyse Malaysia's relatively successful handling of an ethnically divided society, which has permitted impressive stability since 1969. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti focuses on the non-Thai border peoples of northern Thailand, noting the legacy of the government's policy of selective citizenship. Ethnic Conflicts in Southeast Asia will be an invaluable resource for scholars of contemporary Southeast Asia as well as in other regions, policy-makers and others, who wish to assess and develop strategies to prevent, modulate and resolve such conflicts.
This book provides insight into Indonesia's system of government and elections. It focuses on the roles of the 1945 Constitution, the Pancasila, the DPR (Legislative Assembly) and the MPR (People's Consultative Assembly) - and the ways they have functioned during elections since Independence. The development of democracy and the roles of Islam and the military through the presidencies of Sukarno, Soeharto, Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, and Megawati are examined. The book includes a most comprehensive and detailed listing of the results of the 1999 general election, considered Indonesia's first free and democratic election for over thirty years.
"Maritime power has been a key defining parameter of economic vitality and geostrategic power of nations. The first decade of the twenty-first century has witnessed the rise of China and India as confident economic powers pivoting on high growth rates and exponential expansion of science, technology and industrial growth. Sequel to their steadily growing economic clout has been the emphatic resurgence of their maritime power evident in maritime shipping, port development and the concomitant expansion of naval power.Dr Vijay Sakhuja, a former Indian Navy officer, in this pioneering study has splendidly elucidated and examined the resurgence of Asian naval power and its political-diplomatic, economic-commercial, science-technological-industrial, grand-strategic and operational-doctrinal dimensions. Using a neorealist framework, the author provides robust and insightful analysis of how China and India as great powers, using their maritime military capabilities, would evolve and act in global affairs."— Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi, Centre for the Study of Geopolitics, Punjab University, Chandigarh
"Amitav Acharya has written a splendidly ambitious book. Travelling from the discipline of International Relations to the historiography of Southeast Asia and back again, it draws upon a range of methodologies to analyse the issue of identity in the configuration of Southeast Asia. But it provides more than an academic assessment. With this book, Acharya must be judged to have contributed not just to the study of Southeast Asian regionalism, but to the process itself."–Anthony Milner, Basham Professor of Asian History, Australian National University
Southeast Asia has sometimes been portrayed as a static place. In the ninth to fourteenth centuries, however, the region experienced extensive trade, bitter wars, kingdoms rising and falling, ethnic groups on the move, the construction of impressive monuments and debate about profound religious issues. Readers of this volume will learn much of how people lived in Southeast Asia five hundred to one thousand years ago; the region today cannot be comprehended without reference to the seminal developments of that period.
This compilation of biographical data on the military officers in the National Administrative Reform Assembly (1976–77), the National Legislative Assembly, and/or the Senate (1979 to the present) is meant to provide base-line data for further study of military intervention in Thai politics. It also provides the officers' social background, military rank and position at the time they were appointed to their political positions.