Pacific Century: The Emergence Of Modern Pacific Asia, Second Edition [Paperback]

Mark Borthwick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0813334713 | ISBN-13: 978-0813334714 | Edition: 2nd

Poised to enter the twenty-first century, the Asia-Pacific region is rapidly emerging as a global economic and political powerhouse. Looking at both Southeast and East Asia, this richly illustrated volume stresses broad, cross-cutting themes of regional history, with an emphasis on the interactions between cultures and nations. In this updated second edition, Mark Borthwick provides a significantly revised introduction, which gives an overview of political evolution and cultural and economic trends since ancient times. He then considers more recent developments in their historical context, balancing national and international factors underlying Asia-Pacific economic growth and political change. New areas receiving attention in the second edition include the Japanese economic slowdown, Japan’s attempts at political reform, China’s current economic dilemmas and environmental crisis, the sustainability of East Asian economic growth, the North Korean crisis, and Asia-Pacific regionalism and global interactions. The book also provides chronological updates for Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Borthwick concludes with an examination of the key domestic and international issues facing the nations of Pacific Asia and the probable interactions these nations will have with North America and with the global economy.The companion text to the PBS telecourse series, The Pacific Century, which first aired in the fall of 1992, the book also stands alone as an interdisciplinary introduction to Asia and the Pacific. The video series was awarded the prestigious Silver Baton for Excellence in Television & Radio Journalism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Borthwick is director of the United States Asia Pacific Council at the East-West Center in Washington, DC, and has served on staff of the subcommittee of Asian and Pacific Affairs in the US House of Representatives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; 2nd edition (February 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813334713
• ISBN-13: 978-0813334714
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Borthwick is the Director of the United States Asia Pacific Council in Washington DC, a project of the East-West Center. He served in a U.S. Army intelligence unit in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. Specializing in the Asia Pacific, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University 1978-1979, then served on the staff of the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs in the US House of Representatives. He became the US Executive Director of the US National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation upon its inauguration by the President and Secretary of State in 1984. His book, Pacific Century, accompanies the award-winning, ten part PBS television documentary of that name directed by Alex Gibney. Individual segments of the series may be viewed at PacificCentury.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Black and white text books can cure insomnia, March 13, 2000

By 

Danny Lee (Mukilteo, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pacific Century: The Emergence Of Modern Pacific Asia, Second Edition (Paperback)

I had this book for a US - East Asian affairs class at my local community college. It was a decent text book and contains tons of information about Asian history and the emergence of Asian nations as strongpoints in the Pacific.

Each page of the book is separated into two columns which means that you have to read each page twice. Also, the whole book including all the pictures is in black and white. When reading about the extensive Chinese dynasties, these combined factors can make the casual reader very drowsy.