Asia's New Battlefield
Asia's New Battlefield

Author: Richard Javad Heydarian

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2015-11-15

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1783603151

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This compact, insightful book offers an up-to-the-minute guide to understanding the evolution of maritime territorial disputes in East Asia, exploring their legal, political-security and economic dimensions against the backdrop of a brewing Sino-American rivalry for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. It traces the decades-long evolution of Sino-American relations in Asia, and how this pivotal relationship has been central to prosperity and stability in one of the most dynamics regions of the world. It also looks at how middle powers – from Japan and Australia to India and South Korea – have joined the fray, trying to shape the trajectory of the territorial disputes in the Western Pacific, which can, in turn, alter the future of Asia – and ignite an international war that could re-configure the global order. The book examines how the maritime disputes have become a litmus test of China’s rise, whether it has and will be peaceful or not, and how smaller powers such as Vietnam and the Philippines have been resisting Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Drawing on extensive discussions and interviews with experts and policy-makers across the Asia-Pacific region, the book highlights the growing geopolitical significance of the East and South China Sea disputes to the future of Asia – providing insights into how the so-called Pacific century will shape up.

New Regional Trading Arrangements in the Asia Pacific?
New Regional Trading Arrangements in the Asia Pacific?

Author: Robert Scollay

Publisher: Peterson Institute

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 9780881323023

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What are the choices the Asia-Pacific community will face if it proceeds further down the path of developing preferential regional trading arrangements? Fragmentation of the region into preferential trading arrangements on a bilateral or subregional basis promises relatively little economic gain and considerable risk of increased trade conflict. Larger preferential trading blocs, spanning the whole of East Asia, the Western Pacific, or the APEC membership, offer greater potential economic benefits but also face formidable political obstacles. In this study, Scollay and Gilbert weigh the economic consequences of the increased use of preferential trading arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region, whether these develop on the basis of trans-Pacific cooperation or solely within the East Asian or Western Pacific sub-regions. They evaluate the economic effects of both the existing proposals for new bilateral and multilateral agreements and of more far-reaching developments involving the creation of a substantial trading bloc or blocs in the region. Comparisons between the economic effects of establishing such bloc(s) in the region and the effects of achieving APEC's Bogor goals on the basis of "open regionalism" suggest that the latter approach continues to offer a worthwhile alternative. The study demonstrates that the benefits of global free trade dominate those available from establishment of any combination of major blocs or from APEC's "open regionalism".

Sustainability and Degradation in Less Developed Countries
Sustainability and Degradation in Less Developed Countries

Author: Sarah Lumley

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-06

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1351747738

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This title was first published in 2002. The concept of sustainable development has increasingly gained currency as a policy determination tool, yet its interpretation and application is widely contested, especially with respect to the role of economics in the facilitation of environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes. Sarah Lumley assesses some of the fundamental assumptions of mainstream economic theory as part of an analysis of farmers' motives in adopting soil conservation on degraded lands in the Philippines. The text has a strong focus on the theoretical and practical interactions between environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainable development; it is both multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary, and draws on conceptually important points of each discipline that it encompasses.

Japanese Business Down Under
Japanese Business Down Under

Author: David W. Edgington

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-31

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0429768915

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The first comprehensive study of post-war Japanese transnational corporations in Australia, this book, first published in 1990, gives valuable insights into the particular characteristics of Japanese overseas investment. It looks at how, where and why Japanese corporations have set up their business activities in Australia, focusing on the economic, political and geographic factors shaping their operations. It presents case studies of Japanese trading companies, manufacturing companies, banks, and financial institutions. As well as highlighting the essential differences that separate Japanese transnational companies from those of the UK and the USA, the study gives new theoretical insights into the complex behaviour of Japanese corporations in their host countries.