Pacific Affairs

Current Book Reviews

Asia General China & Inner Asia Northeast Asia South Asia & the Himalayas Southeast Asia Australasia & the Pacific Islands

Asia General

GLOBALIZATION AND MODERNITY IN ASIA: Performative Moments. | Edited by Chris Hudson and Bart Barendregt GLOBALIZATION AND MODERNITY IN ASIA: Performative Moments. | Edited by Chris Hudson and Bart Barendregt
Marcus Cheng Chye Tan

SECURITY IN ASIA PACIFIC: The Dynamics of Alignment | By Thomas S. Wilkins SECURITY IN ASIA PACIFIC: The Dynamics of Alignment | By Thomas S. Wilkins
Misato Matsuoka

THE COSTS OF CONVERSATION: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime | By Oriana Skylar Mastro THE COSTS OF CONVERSATION: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime | By Oriana Skylar Mastro
Dai Chaowu

DANGER, DEVELOPMENT AND LEGITIMACY IN EAST ASIAN MARITIME POLITICS: Securing the Seas, Securing the State | By Christian Wirth DANGER, DEVELOPMENT AND LEGITIMACY IN EAST ASIAN MARITIME POLITICS: Securing the Seas, Securing the State | By Christian Wirth
Justin V. Hastings

THE GREATER EAST ASIA CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE: When Total Empire Met Total War | By Jeremy A. Yellen THE GREATER EAST ASIA CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE: When Total Empire Met Total War | By Jeremy A. Yellen
Yukiko Koshiro

China & Inner Asia

CHINA TOMORROW: Democracy or Dictatorship? | By Jean-Pierre Cabestan CHINA TOMORROW: Democracy or Dictatorship? | By Jean-Pierre Cabestan
Robert Bedeski

WHAT IS CHINA?: Territory, Ethnicity, Culture, and History | By Ge Zhaoguang; translated by Michael Gibbs Hill WHAT IS CHINA?: Territory, Ethnicity, Culture, and History | By Ge Zhaoguang; translated by Michael Gibbs Hill
Richard Belsky

CHINA’S ASIA: Triangular Dynamics since the Cold War | By Lowell Dittmer CHINA’S ASIA: Triangular Dynamics since the Cold War | By Lowell Dittmer
Baohui Zhang

ILLIBERAL CHINA: The Ideological Challenge of the People’s Republic of China | By Daniel F. Vukovich ILLIBERAL CHINA: The Ideological Challenge of the People’s Republic of China | By Daniel F. Vukovich
Teresa Wright

A CENTURY OF CHANGE IN A CHINESE VILLAGE: The Crisis of the Countryside | By Lin Juren and Xie Yuxi A CENTURY OF CHANGE IN A CHINESE VILLAGE: The Crisis of the Countryside | By Lin Juren and Xie Yuxi
Richard Madsen

CHINA AND THE BARBARIANS: Resisting the Western World Order | By Hendrik Schulte Nordholt CHINA AND THE BARBARIANS: Resisting the Western World Order | By Hendrik Schulte Nordholt
Justin Wu

THE BATTLE FOR FORTUNE: State-led Development, Personhood, and Power among Tibetans in China | By Charlene Makley THE BATTLE FOR FORTUNE: State-led Development, Personhood, and Power among Tibetans in China | By Charlene Makley
Zhou Yongming

THE POLITICS OF THE CORE LEADER IN CHINA: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy, and Power | By Xuezhi Guo THE POLITICS OF THE CORE LEADER IN CHINA: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy, and Power | By Xuezhi Guo
Robert Dayley

LEGAL LESSONS: Popularizing Laws in the People’s Republic of China, 1949–1989 | By Jennifer Altehenger LEGAL LESSONS: Popularizing Laws in the People’s Republic of China, 1949–1989 | By Jennifer Altehenger
Weiting Guo

A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MAOIST CHINA: Conflict and Change, 1949–1976 | By Felix Wemheuer A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MAOIST CHINA: Conflict and Change, 1949–1976 | By Felix Wemheuer
Nicholas R. Zeller

Northeast Asia

JAPAN | By Jeff Kingston JAPAN | By Jeff Kingston
Michael Strausz

EMPIRE OF HOPE: The Sentimental Politics of Japanese Decline | By David Leheny EMPIRE OF HOPE: The Sentimental Politics of Japanese Decline | By David Leheny
Michael J. Green

NATIONAL IDENTITY AND GREAT-POWER STATUS IN RUSSIA AND JAPAN: Non-Western Challengers to the Liberal International Order | By Tadashi Anno NATIONAL IDENTITY AND GREAT-POWER STATUS IN RUSSIA AND JAPAN: Non-Western Challengers to the Liberal International Order | By Tadashi Anno
Alexander Bukh

LIMINALITY OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE: Border Crossings from Okinawa to Colonial Taiwan | By Hiroko Matsuda LIMINALITY OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE: Border Crossings from Okinawa to Colonial Taiwan | By Hiroko Matsuda
Evan Dawley

NATION-EMPIRE: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies | By Sayaka Chatani NATION-EMPIRE: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies | By Sayaka Chatani
Michael Wert

UNEVEN MOMENTS: Reflections on Japan’s Modern History | By Harry Harootunian UNEVEN MOMENTS: Reflections on Japan’s Modern History | By Harry Harootunian
Miriam Kingsberg Kadia

AESTHETIC LIFE: Beauty and Art in Modern Japan | By Miya Elise Mizuta Lippit AESTHETIC LIFE: Beauty and Art in Modern Japan | By Miya Elise Mizuta Lippit
Janice Brown

JAPAN’S CARNIVAL WAR: Mass Culture on the Home Front, 1937–1945 | By Benjamin Uchiyama JAPAN’S CARNIVAL WAR: Mass Culture on the Home Front, 1937–1945 | By Benjamin Uchiyama
A. Carly Buxton

SOVEREIGNTY EXPERIMENTS: Korean Migrants and the Building of Borders in Northeast Asia, 1860–1945 | By Alyssa M. Park SOVEREIGNTY EXPERIMENTS: Korean Migrants and the Building of Borders in Northeast Asia, 1860–1945 | By Alyssa M. Park
Hyun-Gwi Park

THE INTERROGATION ROOMS OF THE KOREAN WAR: The Untold History | By Monica Kim THE INTERROGATION ROOMS OF THE KOREAN WAR: The Untold History | By Monica Kim
Eun Hee Woo

South Asia & the Himalayas

PARADOXES OF THE POPULAR: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh | By Nusrat Sabina Chowdhury PARADOXES OF THE POPULAR: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh | By Nusrat Sabina Chowdhury
John Richards

POPPIES, POLITICS, AND POWER: Afghanistan and the Global History of Drugs and Diplomacy | By James Tharin Bradford POPPIES, POLITICS, AND POWER: Afghanistan and the Global History of Drugs and Diplomacy | By James Tharin Bradford
William Maley

Southeast Asia

KHAKI CAPITAL: The Political Economy of the Military in Southeast Asia | Edited by Paul Chambers and Napisa Waitoolkiat KHAKI CAPITAL: The Political Economy of the Military in Southeast Asia | Edited by Paul Chambers and Napisa Waitoolkiat
Eddie Lim

PENTECOSTAL MEGACHURCHES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: Negotiating Class, Consumption, and the Nation | Edited by Terence Chong PENTECOSTAL MEGACHURCHES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: Negotiating Class, Consumption, and the Nation | Edited by Terence Chong
David Troolin

CONTESTED TERRITORY: Điện Biên Phủ and the Making of Northwest Vietnam | By Christian C. Lentz CONTESTED TERRITORY: Điện Biên Phủ and the Making of Northwest Vietnam | By Christian C. Lentz
Jorge Bayona

BOMB CHILDREN: Life in the Former Battlefields of Laos | By Leah Zani BOMB CHILDREN: Life in the Former Battlefields of Laos | By Leah Zani
Erin Lin

DOWN AND OUT IN SAIGON: Stories of the Poor in a Colonial City | By Haydon Cherry DOWN AND OUT IN SAIGON: Stories of the Poor in a Colonial City | By Haydon Cherry
Timothy Karis

SECRETS AND POWER IN MYANMAR: Intelligence and the Fall of General Khin Nyunt | By Andrew Selth SECRETS AND POWER IN MYANMAR: Intelligence and the Fall of General Khin Nyunt | By Andrew Selth
Kai Ostwald

SINGAPORE: A Modern History | By Michael D. Barr SINGAPORE: A Modern History | By Michael D. Barr
Edgar Liao

CONTENTIOUS BELONGING: The Place of Minorities in Indonesia | Edited by Greg Fealy and Ronit Ricci CONTENTIOUS BELONGING: The Place of Minorities in Indonesia | Edited by Greg Fealy and Ronit Ricci
Robert W. Hefner

Australasia & the Pacific Islands

SECRET: The Making of Australia’s Security State | By Brian Toohey SECRET: The Making of Australia’s Security State | By Brian Toohey
Randall Doyle

LIVING IN THE STONE AGE: Reflections on the Origins of a Colonial Fantasy | By Danilyn Rutherford LIVING IN THE STONE AGE: Reflections on the Origins of a Colonial Fantasy | By Danilyn Rutherford
Sjoerd R. Jaarsma

MARKING INDIGENEITY: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations | By Tēvita O. Ka‘ili MARKING INDIGENEITY: The Tongan Art of Sociospatial Relations | By Tēvita O. Ka‘ili
Tui Nicola Clery

PACIFIC WOMEN IN POLITICS: Gender Quota Campaigns in the Pacific Islands | By Kerryn Baker.PACIFIC WOMEN IN POLITICS: Gender Quota Campaigns in the Pacific Islands | By Kerryn Baker.
Penelope Schoeffel

THE PAST BEFORE US: Mo‘okū‘auhau as Methodology | Edited by Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu THE PAST BEFORE US: Mo‘okū‘auhau as Methodology | Edited by Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu
Emily C. Donaldson

THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC: Micronesia and Papua New Guinea | Edited by Grant K. Goodman and Felix Moos THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC: Micronesia and Papua New Guinea | Edited by Grant K. Goodman and Felix Moos
David Fazzino