Anupam Chander (UC-Davis): The Asian Century? Terence C. Halliday (ABF): Architects of the State: International Financial Institutions and the Reconstruction of States in East Asia. The Chinese Google: Baidu is the search engine of choice for 85 per cent of China’s net users — but what kind of window on the world is it when it claims Tiananmen Square is nothing more than a tourist attraction? From Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, a review essay on Labour, Capitalism and Ideology in Interwar and Wartime Japan; a review of Lost Goddesses: The Denial of Female Power in Cambodian History by Trudy Jacobsen; and a special issue on Gender, Culture and Religion. From Boston Review, a forum on China’s Other Revolution: Missed in all the headlines are the radical political and social changes China has undergone over the past twenty years. An article on Japan and Asia and the implications of an improved relationship. John Quiggin on China's imminent collapse. No man’s island: It’s remote, it’s sparsely populated, it’s also rich with copper, gold, and timber — welcome to West Papua’s war with Indonesia. A review of Unveiling the Whale: Discourses on Whales and Whaling by Arne Kalland and Whaling in Japan: Power, Politics, and Diplomacy by Jun Morikawa. The battle over Zomia: Scholars are enchanted by the notion of this anarchic region in Asia, but how real is it? A review of The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia by James C. Scott (and more at Bookforum). How fast can China go? On the heels of its Olympic makeover, China flexes its engineering muscles once again with a $6.64 billion high-speed train that dusts the competition, including America. A review of A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia by Aaron L. Friedberg.
