The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), officially established in 1996, is an inter-regional forum consisting of the 15 member states of the European Union and the European Commission, 7 member of the 10 states of ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea. In this important volume academics from Asia and Europe examine the level of engagement between both continents and highlight how the ASEM process has been conducive in enhancing the political, economic and cultural ties between the various Asian and European countries. They address questions such as: how does the euro fit in the developing East Asian monetary cooperation; how does ASEM influence the process of East Asian identity building and what is the ASEM factor in the formulation of the new foreign policy of China? ASEM is wrongly a little known process because it plays a key role in formulating the emerging multilateralist world order of the 21st century.

In 1999, Indonesia embarked on a reform of regional governance that brings self-governance to rural districts and municipalities, i.e., the administrative and democratic capacity needed to apply basic services like healthcare, national legislation and environment policies. This edited volume is the first book, which not only deals with the 1999 legislation but also shows how the deficiencies and contradictions of this legislation reduced implementation between 2001 and 2004 to a try-out. The book also discusses the adaptations that were the focus of the debate on the revision of the 1999 legislation that resulted in the 2004 update legislation and the amendment of the 1945 Constitution. Anthropological case studies of five provinces complement and deepen the findings of the more general survey reports.

The book presents a unique combination of the study of contemporary and historical practices between Asia and Europe and brings forth some of the latest thinking on the subject. Recent debates have centered primarily on contemporary aspects of the Europe-Asia partnership in terms of international relations and economic linkages. The present volume complements this political and economic interest in Europe-Asia relationship by focusing on the academic, social and cultural connections between the two regions. The contributions in this volume have a contemporary focus but contextualize the themes within a historical perspective. They deal with academic discourses on the region, on modernity and entrepreneurship; they discuss the long-term exchange of knowledge in specific scientific fields; and they focus on the cultural interconnections in the area of film, literature and migration. The originality of this book lies in its interdisciplinary approach to the question of Asia-Europe and in its emphasis on the multifaceted complexity of the relationship between these two regions. It brings together the diversity of local histories, ideas, and agencies in both Europe and Asia into a universal project of knowledge formation in order to reveal their contribution to the making of the world we are in.Contributors:Syed Farid Alatas, Gregory Clancey, John Kleinen, Van Nguyen-Marshall, Henk Schulte Nordholt, Paravin J. Patel, Maurizio Peleggi, Satish Saberwal, Vineeta Sinha

This study is a critical investigation into the category of tribes in South Asia. It breaks away from previous studies of tribes in the region. While it focuses on one so-called tribal community, the Garos of Bangladesh, it neither studies Garo culture as such, nor their social organization. Instead it deals with the evolution of Garo identity/ethnicity and with the progressive making of cultural characteristics that support a sense of "Garo-ness", in the context of the complex historical developments in this part of South Asia and the world.The importance of this work is not confined to a better understanding of how smaller ethnic groups form, survive or disappear in modern society. It also leads to a more comprehensive insight into how social life in the border region of South and Southeast Asia is organized and how it has transformed over time.This book will be of interest to historians, anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists, students, scholars of South and Southeast Asia and policy-makers.

The twentieth century was a fascinating period of profound political, social and economic changes in Indonesia. These changes contributed to the diversification of the religious landscape and as a result, religious authority was redistributed over an increasing number of actors. Although many Muslims in Indonesia continued to regard the ulama, the traditional religious scholars, as the principle source of religious guidance, religious authority has become more diffused and differentiated over time. The present book consists of contributions which all deal with the multi-facetted and multidimensional topic of religious authority and aim to complement each other. Most papers deal with Indonesia, but two dealing with other countries have been included in order to add a comparative dimension. Amongst the topics dealt with are the different and changing roles of the ulama, the rise and role of Muslim organizations, developments within Islamic education, like the madrasa, and the spread of Salafi ideas in contemporary Indonesia.

Southeast Asia and Bangladesh are at present global hot spots of pirate attacks on merchant vessels and fishing boats. This book explains why, and in what form, piracy still exists. It offers an integrated analysis of the root causes of piracy, linking declining fish stocks, organized crime networks, radical politically motivated groups, the use of flags of convenience, the lack of state control over national territory, and the activities of private security companies, and identifies their wider security implications.