The Rise of East Asia: Critical Visions of the Pacific Century

The rise of East Asia has proceeded dramatically since the 1970s and the economic strength of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan is well esteblished. Now the governments of the Philippines, Vietnam and even India are attempting to follow East Asia, while the people of Australia and the US, and a growing number of other countries in the Americas and beyond, are being exhorted to meet the challenge of the rise of East Asia. In the context of the rise of East Asia and tranisition from the Cold War to the post-Cold War era in the Asia-Pacific, there are competing visions of both what is going on in the Asia-Pacific today and of what the future holds. The first part of the book engages with the dominant narratives on the Pacific century by looking at particular trends in specific nations and at particular areas of change within those nations. There is a thorough examination of the rise of East-Pacific (and the Pacific Rim) as a new regional demarcation in the context of the wider trend towards globalization. The Rise of East Asia is a challenging contribution to the debate concerning the rise of the region and its growing importance on a global scale. It will provide an invaluable overview of the most important issues for anyone interested in the implications of the Pacific Century Mark T. Berger, Murdoch University, Western Australia, Douglas A. Borer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, Harahiro Fukui, University of Tsakuba, Japan,