If the past hundred years will be remembered as a century of war, Asia is surely central to that story. Tracing the course of conflicts throughout the region, this groundbreaking volume is the first to explore systematically the nexus of war and state terrorism. Challenging states' definitions of terrorism, which routinely exclude their own behavior, the book focuses especially on the nature of Japanese and American wars and crimes of war. The authors also assess significant acts of terror instigated by other Asian nations including China, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Offering a rare comparative perspective, the authors consider how state terror leads to massive civilian casualties, crimes of war, and crimes against humanity. In counterbalance, they discuss anti-war and anti-nuclear movements and international efforts to protect human rights, and the interwoven issues of responsibility, impunity, and memory. Interdisciplinary and deeply informed by global perspectives, this volume will resonate with readers searching for a deeper understanding of an epoch that has been dominated by war and terror.
Mark Selden is a Coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, a Senior Research Associate in the East Asia Program at Cornell University, and Professor Emeritus of History and Sociology at Binghamton University. You can access The Asia-Pacific Journal here; http://japanfocus.org
A specialist on the modern and contemporary geopolitics, political economy and history of China, Japan and the Asia Pacific, his work has addressed themes of war and revolution, inequality, development, regional and world social change, and historical memory. A founding member of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars in the 1960s, for more than thirty years he edited The Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (later Critical Asian Studies). He is the editor of Book Series at Rowman and Littlefield, Routledge, and M.E. Sharpe including series on The Asia-Pacific, War and Peace, and World Social Change.
