216 AREAS 14 South Asia gurharpal singh In the theorization and general discussion of democratization South Asia occupies a distinctive space. The region, comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives, is home to 1.4 billion people (almost 22 per cent of the world’s population), of whom around 550 million live below the poverty line. As recent events have demonstrated, in the popular imagination South Asia is commonly characterized as suffering from chronic political instability, protracted ethnic conflicts and the
11 East Asia shaun breslin The task of writing about democratization in East Asia as a whole is a hugely problematic one. It is a region that contains massive diversity in political and economic systems and one that remains in a state of considerable flux and transition. A key element in this transition is the end of the Cold War, and the resulting reduction in US tolerance of authoritarianism so long as that authoritarianism was overtly anti-communist. It is also a region where, as in East and Central Europe, communist party states are struggling with the
The Asian financial crisis 6 Beyond the Asian crisis: the evolving international financial architecture We face a world of crisis. If Hong Kong, with its sound fundamentals and prudent financial management, can be brought to the brink of systemic breakdown by aggressive cross-border speculation, then something must be wrong with the world financial order (Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, January 5, 1999).1 Shortly after the Mexican peso crisis, the G-7 countries launched an effort to strengthen the international financial system
2504Chap6 7/4/03 12:40 pm Page 105 6 The geopolitics of Central Asian energy Jaewoo Choo This chapter assesses the rising geostrategic and geoeconomic importance of Central Asian oil and natural gas for China and the United States – the most transparent source of Sino-American conflict in this region. The initial rationale for Chinese engagement in Central Asia, despite the emergence of China as a net oil-importing nation in 1993, was not driven by the search for an alternative and secure source of oil and natural gas.1 Rather, Chinese policy reflected a
Introduction The Obama administration was the first to put ASEAN at the centre of its Asia diplomacy. Gaining membership to the ASEAN-created and ASEAN-led East Asia Summit (EAS), achieved in 2011, was deemed a particularly important milestone. It is quite possible that the Obama administration may well become the only American administration to prioritise the EAS to such an extent. Up until the time of writing in early 2019, the Trump administration from 2017 reverted to a more typical US approach to Asia focused on Northeast Asia, bilateral relations and
Introduction Donald Trump’s 2016 election threatened a revolution in US Asia policy. Since the early years of the Cold War, the United States has been a constant presence in the region’s security setting. 1 American military power has been the pre-eminent force in the region, organised through a series of bilateral alliances and quasi-alliance guarantees. This presence was part of the larger US Cold War grand strategy in which Washington sought to ensure a favourable strategic balance in Western Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. 2 Although the Obama
2504Chap5 7/4/03 12:40 pm Page 86 5 Transboundary water management and security in Central Asia1 Stuart Horsman Central Asia is subject to a number of major environmental concerns, including the desiccation of the Aral Sea, the depletion and degradation of river and irrigation waters, and the consequences of Soviet and Chinese nuclear weapons testing at Semipalatinsk and Lop Nor, respectively. Riverine water, particularly when linked with irrigated land, is perhaps the only one of these environmental issues that demonstrates a ‘probable linkage between
The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 shook the foundations of the global economy and what began as a localised currency crisis soon engulfed the entire Asian region. This book explores what went wrong and how did the Asian economies long considered 'miracles' respond, among other things. The combined effects of growing unemployment, rising inflation, and the absence of a meaningful social safety-net system, pushed large numbers of displaced workers and their families into poverty. Resolving Thailand's notorious non-performing loans problem will depend on the fortunes of the country's real economy, and on the success of Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC). Under International Monetary Fund's (IMF) oversight, the Indonesian government has also taken steps to deal with the massive debt problem. After Indonesian Debt Restructuring Agency's (INDRA) failure, the Indonesian government passed the Company Bankruptcy and Debt Restructuring and/or Rehabilitation Act to facilitate reorganization of illiquid, but financially viable companies. Economic reforms in Korea were started by Kim Dae-Jung. the partial convertibility of the Renminbi (RMB), not being heavy burdened with short-term debt liabilities, and rapid foreign trade explains China's remarkable immunity to the "Asian flu". The proposed sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM) (modeled on corporate bankruptcy law) would allow countries to seek legal protection from creditors that stand in the way of restructuring, and in exchange debtors would have to negotiate with their creditors in good faith.
unpredictable, President Trump rarely used the language of the published strategies and continued cordial interchange with the Russian and Chinese leaders. Trump versus Obama: Diplomacy in Asia Soon after taking power in January 2017, the Trump administration unceremoniously announced the end of the Obama administration’s signature “Rebalance” policy in Asia. 2 Launched in 2011, that multifaceted policy was widely welcomed in Asia except notably by China, which took assertive and expansive actions in response that the Obama government was less than successful in
Introduction The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth assessment report confirmed that climate change is already affecting every region on earth and the changes are expected to be widespread, rapid and intensifying ( IPCC, 2021 ). For the Asia Pacific region, climate change is predicted to increase the intensity and frequency of disasters ( UNESCAP, 2017 ). The Philippines, ranked as the third most disaster-prone country in the world, regularly experiences hazards such as typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions ( CFE-DM, 2018 ). The