Will there be revolution in Central Asia?

Will revolution, either of the democratic or the Islamic fundamentalist variety, spread throughout Central Asia? Such a question cannot be answered definitively. I will address this question by examining what is going on in Central Asia in light of different theories of revolution, including the ones focusing on relative deprivation, regime type, state breakdown, external factors, democratic revolution theory, and the role of the military. This study will show that several theoretical approaches suggest that the ingredients for revolution in Central Asia are either there now or will be in the not too distant future.     

From Konfrontasi to Disintegrasi : ASEAN and the Rise of Islamism in Southeast Asia

This article evaluates the development of militant Islamic threats in Southeast Asia from the early 1990s onwards and its security implications for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The analysis contends that the extent of extremist Islamic infiltration of the region was obscured by governmental rhetoric, along with much Western opinion, which argued erroneously that ASEAN was following a unique developmental path based on shared regional values that had resulted in economic growth and political stability. However, by ignoring underlying religiously motivated tensions within and among its membership, and by refusing to countenance mature debate about them within their societies, ASEAN has succeeded only in incubating its potential nemesis.     

Housing in Asia

Housing as a Basic Need. By Regional Institute of Higher Education and Development. Hong Kong: Maruzen Asia, 1982. Pp.253. ISBN 962 220 111 3.

A Place to Live: More Effective Low‐Cost Housing in Asia. Edited by Yue‐man Yeung. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1983. Pp.216. ISBN 0 88936 371 4.

People, Poverty and Shelter: Problems of Self‐Help Housing in the Third World. Edited by R. J. Skinner and M. J. Rodell. London: Methuen, 1983. Pp.xi + 195. £6.50. ISBN 0 416 30960 7.

Management of Sites and Services Housing Schemes: The Asian Experience. By P. J. Swan, E.A. Wegelin and Komol Panchee. Chichester: Wiley, 1983. Pp.xi + 150. £10.50. ISBN 0 471 90072 9.     

From British subjects to Australian values: a citizenship-building approach to Australia–Asia relations

Australia–Asia relations are inextricably bound up with the development of notions of statehood and citizenship. The argument advanced here is that the way a state acts within the international community markedly determines how it relates to its own citizens. Here we suggest that the continuing and politically resonant idea of Australia as a ‘middle power’ is a crucial thread that links the international and national dimensions of citizenship building. From the very beginning of Federation, the contingent sovereignty of the new Australian Commonwealth in the imperial order became necessarily entangled with debate over national political institutions and citizenship building. Long after the end of the British Empire, the notion of middle power politics has determined the nature and shape of citizenship building. These statecraft projects of ‘citizenship building’ are profoundly shaped, determined and reinforced by the institutions and policies of regional engagement. We explore this framework through three critical junctures of domestic and external policy: 1. the emergence of dominion status on the basis of a common racial and cultural identity within the empire in the first half of the century;

2. the developing notion of a good international citizen during the Hawke and Keating period;

3. the invocation of Australian values by John Howard.

     

North Korea Will Disarm in Two Years

"A promise to five powers — especially since China is involved — is more likely to be kept than a promise to one. At the end of the day, the North Koreans will come around and disarm. I believe they will agree to disarm within two years. Their economy is so weak they can't hold out much longer."     

The US Will Remain in the Yellow Sea

The recurrent crises emanating from North Korea, and the response to them, is testing US‐China relations and drawing the new boundaries of power in East Asia. The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the former South Korean national security advisor address this development.     

巴西现代化中的乡村发展

巴西在现代化起步之前,传统的农村社会有着浓厚的殖民地色彩。随着现代化进程的推进,巴西农村的社会结构也发生了新的变化。巴西农村发展取得了重要的成就,但也存在着很多不可忽视的问题。     

孟加拉国大选风波能否终结"女领袖"时代

孟加拉国是南亚的一个小国,面积仅有14.4万平方公里,人口却多达1.4亿,是世界上最不发达的国家之一.     

Mobile entrepreneurs in post-Soviet Central Asia

In this paper I present an analysis of a mobile entrepreneur and his transnational economic activities in post-Soviet space. I argue that the space of informal economic activities of mobile entrepreneurs are structured by trust-networks in the sense Tilly (2005) uses it. In this context the concept of tirikchilik (an Uzbek term for ‘muddling through’ or survival) which defines the space of informal economic activities is important to decipher. Tirikchilik unifies various economic activities which vary from trade, service delivery, middleman services, administration and any kind of activity that generates some cash.