Rabbinic Call for a Shared Jerusalem

This statement was signed in February 2000 by 314 reform, conservative and reconstructionist American rabbis. It resulted from a year-long educational project involving 1200 rabbis. The president of the Jewish Peace Lobby is Jerome M. Segal, research scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland.     

The United Arab Emirates: economic vibrancy and US interests

Based in Tucson, Arizona, Dr J. E. Peterson is a historian and political scientist specializing in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf. He received his PhD from the Johns Hopkins University and has taught at several academic institutions in the USA and worked for the US government and various research institutes. Until 1999, he served as the Historian of the Sultan's Armed Forces in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defence in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, and he spent 2000–2001 at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. His books include The Arab Gulf States: Steps Toward Political Participation (Praeger, for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1988), Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia (Scarecrow Press, 1993; 2^nd ed. Scarecrow Press, 2003) and Defending Oman: A History of the Sultan's Armed Forces (forthcoming). He has written an Adelphi Paper, Saudi Arabia and the Illusion of Security (2002). His articles on ‘Saudi-American Relations after September 11’ and ‘Bahrain's First Steps Towards Reform Under Amir Hamad’ appeared in recent issues of Asian Affairs. Dr Peterson's website is www.JEPeterson.net     

Japanese foreign policy: Inaction and reaction

Japan's tendency to simply react to international trends rather than to formulate its own policies is as prevalent today as during the Meiji period when the country was trying to catch up to the West, says Gerald Curtis, professor of political science at Columbia University. When international trends are murky, such as before World War II, this tendency can easily lead to disaster, Curtis says. Japan must break with the past and define its international role in the post‐Cold War era, Curtis argues, but the public debate required to achieve this is unlikely until Japan's domestic politics become more sharply defined.     

Population problems: Recent developments and their impact

The twenty-first century will differ from the twentieth century in population, economics, the environment and culture. In this article, Joel E. Cohen, Professor of Populations and Head of the Laboratory of Populations at Rockefeller University and Columbia University, examines 10 differences between the last century and the next, and the degree to which global population problems will interact with the economy, the environment and culture. Cohen argues that there is almost nothing inevitable about any human trends for the twenty-first century. Each trend is a result of many choices, both individual and collective, that will have to be made by our generation and our children's generation.     

A tribute to Leo Cawley, 1944–1991

Abstract

In the late sixties, after his tour of active duty as a marine in Vietnam from 1965 to 66, Leo Cawley returned to the United States and became an economics major at Columbia University. There he joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Columbia University chapter of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars (CCAS), whose national organization founded the Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. In March and April of 1972 he traveled to the People's Republic of China with the second CCAS delegation. Leo reviewed Waldemar A. Nielson's The Big Foundations in volume 6, number 3 of BCAS in 1974, and from 1985 to 1987 he was book review editor for BCAS. Leo also contributed money to BCAS even in the last year of his life when his medical expenses were skyrocketing. Above all, however, Leo stood for everything BCAS has stood for over the years, and he was a close friend and inspiration to some of BCAS's staunchest supporters.     

The Iraq treaty, 1930

India's relations with the Gulf countries started to flourish in the 1990s after India succeeded in de-hyphenating Pakistan from its policy toward the Gulf. Though Pakistan remained a factor as it continued to raise Kashmir and internal situation in India at multilateral forums such as OIC to evoke anti-India sentiments, it did not remain an underlying factor in as was the case during the Cold War era. In the contemporary dynamics, when India-Gulf relations are progressing toward strategic partnerships, Pakistan has re-emerged as a factor but its nature has changed. As highlighted in the joint statements issued during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to the Gulf countries since May 2014, India can now put pressure on Pakistan by highlighting its policy of sponsoring terrorism. This was evident when the Arab Gulf countries condemned the Pathankot (January 2016) and Uri (September 2016) terrorist attacks. India's relations with the Arab Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries are independent of their engagements with Pakistan and India-Pakistan tension, but New Delhi has stepped up efforts to raise the issue of cross-border terrorism and use of religion to incite terror activities against India during its engagements with these countries. It underlines the growing convergence between India and Arab Gulf countries over regional issues and the ability of India to isolate Pakistan over issues related to terrorism.     

Communications

Abstract

“You don't have to be German to be a good German.” (Graffiti on the wall of Pupin Hall, Columbia University, April, 1972.)     

Japan’s Quest for “Soft Power”: Attraction and Limitation

Japan is seeking to project its “soft power” through the allure of manga and anime in its public diplomacy. The production, diffusion and global consumption of manga and anime are driven by market forces and consumer tastes and not by the Japanese state. However, the latter is seeking to harness this popular culture to burnish Tokyo’s international image. Despite the attractiveness of Japanese pop culture and other more traditional forms of public diplomacy, Tokyo’s pursuit of “soft power” and a good international image is undermined by its failure to overcome its burden of history.

China-ASEAN Economic Co-operation and the Role of Provinces

This article attempts to study the rationales and strategies of China's involvement in sub-regional economic co-operation projects with the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), using the Greater Mekong Basin Sub-region and the Pan-Beibu Gulf Area as examples. It analyses China's diplomatic and economic motivations, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of this involvement. It also examines China's involvement at the provincial level and, in particular, the motivations, strategies, strengths and limitations on the part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in its participation in the Pan-Beibu Gulf Area project. China considers that its involvement facilitates its articulation of its interests, enhancement of its influence and promotion of multipolarity. Further, it would allow China to maintain a relatively low profile while seeking leadership and reducing external pressures. There are also the considerations of reducing China's aid commitments and accelerating the development of China's central and western provinces.     

Muslim Women in Law and Society. Annotated Translation of al-Tāhir al-Haddād's Imra'tunā fi'l-shari'a wa'l-mujtama‘

The Arab Gulf states have systematically worked to tighten their cooperation in various fields. However, progress toward increased defence collaboration continues to be slow due to a number of factors including fears of angering neighbouring countries, particularly Iran; protecting state sovereignty; and reliance on other forms of defence, such as national militaries and foreign allies. This article traces the ups and downs of defence cooperation between the Arab Gulf nations, focusing on the establishment of the GCC and the joint Peninsula Shield Force, crucial milestones in Arab Gulf security coordination. A timeline of increased and decreased cooperation is presented, including during the two Gulf wars, along with the manner in which the joint force has been employed, its associated concerns, and the potential future for defence collaboration.     

BEYOND THE WILLOW PALISADE: MANCHURIA AND THE HISTORY OF CHINA'S INNER ASIAN FRONTIER

Dr David Sneath is the Director of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at Cambridge University and a lecturer in Social Anthropology. He is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College where he is Deputy Tutor for Advanced Students and Director of Studies in Archaeology and Anthropology. He is the Co-editor of the journal Inner Asia and his most recent book Changing Inner Mongolia: Pastoral Mongolian Society and the Chinese State was published in 2000 by Oxford University Press (reviewed in Asian Affairs, June 2002). The following article is based on a lecture which he gave to the Society on 17 July, 2002.     

Beyond de-nuclearization: debating deterrence and North Korea in Asia’s new nuclear age

ABSTRACT

Review of : Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks against the United States: a speculative novel (Mariner: New York, 2018); Van Jackson, On the Brink, Trump, Kim and the Threat of Nuclear War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018); Sung Chull Kim and Michael D. Cohen, eds., Entering the new era of deterrence, North Korea and nuclear weapons (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2017); and Victor D. Cha, and David C. Kang, Nuclear North Korea, a debate on engagement strategies, second edition (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018).     

Sadat Forum on U.S.-Egyptian Relations

The following is the edited text of a discussion held November 28, 2000, at the Sadat Forum at Brookings, cohosted by Richard Haass, vice-president and director of Foreign-Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, and Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland.     

Migrant labor at ASIAD '82 construction sites in New Delhi

Abstract

Throughout India the scale of migrant labor is reaching alarming proportions. Apart from the spontaneous migration of essentially free labor from impoverished rural areas to urban centers, there exists a deliberately planned migration of bonded or semi-bonded labor over distances ranging from 200 to over 2000 kilometers. With the rising demand for labor in the oil-rich countries of the Persian-Arabian Gulf, labor migration in India has also taken on international dimensions.     

The origins and development of the Jihadist movement: from anti-communism to terrorism

Gilles Kepel is Professor, Institute of Political Studies, Paris (1985 to present); Senior Researcher, CNRS (National Board for Scientific Research), Paris (1984 to present); Director of the Doctoral Program on the Muslim World, Institute of Political Studies (1994 to present). He was Visiting Professor, Columbia University, New York (1996–1997); Researcher, CEDEJ (Egyptian–French Center for Scientific Cooperation), Cairo, Egypt (1980–1983). He is the author of several books on Islam, including Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, published by IB Tauris in 2002 (reviewed in this issue of Asian Affairs, p. 158) and Bad Moon Rising: A Chronicle of the Middle East Today (Saqi, 2003). An earlier version of this article was published in Ramse`s, 2003     

Library notices

The Theatres of Japan. By Peter Arnott. London, Macmillan &; Company 1969. Pp. 319. Index, Bibliography, Glossary, Illustrations. £4.5.

The Actors’ Analects. Edited, translated and with an introduction and notes by Charles J. Dunn and Bunzo Torigoe. New York, Columbia University‐Press and Tokyo, University of Tokyo Press, 1969. Pp. 306. Index. Original Japanese text, Illustrations, Glossary, List of Actors (with characters) and short biographical Notices. Bibliography. $11.00.     

“Holding Nationalist Flags Against Red Flags” —Anti-American Icons in Contemporary China and their Reconstruction by the Public (1999–2003)

Focusing on the construction and reconstruction process of anti-American icons in contemporary China, this paper compares the patterns of interactions between the Chinese government, intellectuals and general public during four events centering on China-US relations: the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing, the early 2001 plane collision incident, the September 11 attacks, and the 2003 war in Iraq. The article suggests that the proliferation of anti-American icons in China does not only point towards the existence of anti-foreign ideologies. It is also a channel for different players in China to advance their personal and group interests. As long as tolerance from Beijing is signalled, much nationalist rhetoric is a coded way of directing limited dissent at the Chinese state itself, but how exactly the Chinese public hold the “nationalist flags” — which is allowed by the party–state — against the “red flags” of the same regime remains relatively unexplored. Filling up such an intellectual vacuum is the central focus of this paper.

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Madawi Al–Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia
Mohammed El–Nawawy and Adel Iskandar, Al–Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East
Steven Spiegel, The Dynamics of Middle East Nuclear Proliferation
Donald Wagner, Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000
Charles M. Sennott, The Body and the Blood: The Holy Land's Christians at the Turn of a New Millennium, A Reporter's Journey
Mohamed Bin Huwaidin, China's Relations with Arabia and the Gulf 1949–1999     

Man on the Spot: Captain George Gracey and British Policy towards the Assyrians, 1917–45

Oman Since 1856: Disruptive Modernization in a Traditional Arab Society. By Robert Geran Landen. Pp. xvi+488. Tables, maps, bibliography, index. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; London: Oxford University Press. 100s.

Oman: A History. By Wendell Phillips. Pp. xiv+246. Illustrations, maps, appendices, index. London: Longmans, 63s.

British Interests in the Persian Gulf. By Abdul Amir Amin. Pp. vi+164. Map, appendices, bibliography. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 36 guilders.

Lords of the Atlas. The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893–1956. By Gavin Maxwell. Pp. 318. Longmans. 1966. 50s.

Britain and the Persian Gulf, 1894–1914. By Briton Cooper Busch. Pp. x+388. Appendices. Index. University of California Press London: Cambridge University Press. 83s.

Islamic Reform, The Political and Legal Theories of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. By Malcolm H. Kerr. Pp. 223, bibliog., index. University of California Press. London: Cambridge University Press. 42s.

Political and Social Change in Modern Egypt. (Historical Studies from the Ottoman Conquest to the United Arab Republic). Edited by P. M. Holt, Pp. xx+400, index. Oxford University Press. 70s.

The Surest Path: The Political Treatise of a Nineteenth‐Century Muslim Statesman. By Leon Carl Brown. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard Middle Eastern Monograph Series XVI. Pp. 188. Harvard University Press. London: Oxford University Press. 34s.     

An Indochinese conference in Vancouver

Abstract

An important conference took place at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, on April 1st to 6th. Six Indochinese delegates met about 600 women from Voice of Women, Women Strike for Peace, Third World, and Women's Liberation groups of western North America. The purpose of the conference was “to meet and talk in order to get a better understanding and strengthen our solidarity so as to put an early end to the war, and to give information to Canadian and U.S. friends on the situation in Indochina.” Third World delegates, who numbered about 300, came from Black, Chicano, Asian, and Native American and Canadian groups. The Indochinese also talked to G.I. wives, veterans, deserters, and draft resisters, and held public meetings with Canadian citizens. A similar conference followed in Toronto (see The Guardian, New York, April 17, page 5).