Pacific Affairs

Current Book Reviews

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

Asia General

INDO-PACIFIC EMPIRE: China, America and the Contest for the World’s Pivotal Region | By Rory Medcalf INDO-PACIFIC EMPIRE: China, America and the Contest for the World’s Pivotal Region | By Rory Medcalf
Christopher Carothers

ON THE FRONTIERS OF HISTORY: Rethinking East Asian Borders. | By Tessa Morris-Suzuki ON THE FRONTIERS OF HISTORY: Rethinking East Asian Borders. | By Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Jane M. Ferguson

THE PANDEMIC: Perspectives on Asia | Edited by Vinayak Chaturvedi THE PANDEMIC: Perspectives on Asia | Edited by Vinayak Chaturvedi
Daniel P. Aldrich

TO RULE EURASIA’S WAVES: The New Great Power Competition at Sea | By Geoffrey F. Gresh TO RULE EURASIA’S WAVES: The New Great Power Competition at Sea | By Geoffrey F. Gresh
Yongzheng Parker Li

China & Inner Asia

DICTATORSHIP BY DEGREES: Xi Jinping in China | By Steven P. Feldman DICTATORSHIP BY DEGREES: Xi Jinping in China | By Steven P. Feldman
Dimitar D. Gueorguiev

SECURING CHINA’S NORTHWEST FRONTIER: Identity and Insecurity in Xinjiang | By David Tobin SECURING CHINA’S NORTHWEST FRONTIER: Identity and Insecurity in Xinjiang | By David Tobin
Yan Sun

THE LONG GAME: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order | By Rush Doshi THE LONG GAME: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order | By Rush Doshi
Vasilis Trigkas

CHINA’S FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: Conditions and Challenges | Edited by Enrique Dussel Peters CHINA’S FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: Conditions and Challenges | Edited by Enrique Dussel Peters
Evan Ellis

THE BELT ROAD AND BEYOND: State-Mobilized Globalization in China: 1998–2018 | By Min Ye THE BELT ROAD AND BEYOND: State-Mobilized Globalization in China: 1998–2018 | By Min Ye
Hong Yu

CHINA GOES GREEN: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet | By Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro CHINA GOES GREEN: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet | By Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro
Ran Ran

TAIWAN IN DYNAMIC TRANSITION: Nation Building and Democratization | Edited by Ryan Dunch and Ashley Esarey, foreword by Thomas B. Gold TAIWAN IN DYNAMIC TRANSITION: Nation Building and Democratization | Edited by Ryan Dunch and Ashley Esarey, foreword by Thomas B. Gold
Jeff Hai-chi Loo

TAIWAN: The Development of an Asian Tiger | Edited by Hans Stockton and Yao-Yuan Yeh TAIWAN: The Development of an Asian Tiger | Edited by Hans Stockton and Yao-Yuan Yeh
André Laliberté

Northeast Asia

THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM: Japan and the World Order | Edited by Yoichi Funabashi and G. John Ikenberry THE CRISIS OF LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM: Japan and the World Order | Edited by Yoichi Funabashi and G. John Ikenberry
Michael J. Green

IMMIGRANT INCORPORATION IN EAST ASIAN DEMOCRACIES | By Erin Aeran Chung IMMIGRANT INCORPORATION IN EAST ASIAN DEMOCRACIES | By Erin Aeran Chung
Pei-Chia Lan

LOST HISTORIES: Recovering the Lives of Japan’s Colonial Peoples | By Kirsten L. Ziomek LOST HISTORIES: Recovering the Lives of Japan’s Colonial Peoples | By Kirsten L. Ziomek
Hiroko Matsuda

RESIDUAL FUTURES: The Urban Ecologies of Literary and Visual Media of 1960s and 1970s Japan | By Franz Prichard RESIDUAL FUTURES: The Urban Ecologies of Literary and Visual Media of 1960s and 1970s Japan | By Franz Prichard
Fabien Carpentras

THOUGHT CRIME: Ideology and State Power in Interwar Japan | By Max M. Ward THOUGHT CRIME: Ideology and State Power in Interwar Japan | By Max M. Ward
Mark McNally

TOWARD DEMOCRACY: South Korean Culture and Society, 1945–1980 | Edited by Hyunjoo Kim, Yerim Kim, Boduerae Kwon, Hyeryoung Lee, Theodore Jun Yoo TOWARD DEMOCRACY: South Korean Culture and Society, 1945–1980 | Edited by Hyunjoo Kim, Yerim Kim, Boduerae Kwon, Hyeryoung Lee, Theodore Jun Yoo
Chien-peng Chung

AFTER THE KOREAN WAR: An Intimate History | By Heonik Kwon AFTER THE KOREAN WAR: An Intimate History | By Heonik Kwon
Steven Denney

FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN KOREA, 1980–2020 | By Yung Chul Park, Joon-Kyung Kim, and Hail Park FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN KOREA, 1980–2020 | By Yung Chul Park, Joon-Kyung Kim, and Hail Park
Seung Whan Choi

South Asia & the Himalayas

COLONIAL TERROR: Torture and State Violence in Colonial India | By Deana Heath / THE TRUTH MACHINES: Policing, Violence, and Scientific Interrogations in India | By Jinee Lokaneeta COLONIAL TERROR: Torture and State Violence in Colonial India | By Deana Heath / THE TRUTH MACHINES: Policing, Violence, and Scientific Interrogations in India | By Jinee Lokaneeta
Georgi Asatryan

THE SNOW LEOPARD AND THE GOAT: Politics of Conservation in the Western Himalayas | By Shafqat Hussain; Foreword by K. Sivaramakrishnan THE SNOW LEOPARD AND THE GOAT: Politics of Conservation in the Western Himalayas | By Shafqat Hussain; Foreword by K. Sivaramakrishnan
Muhammad A. Kavesh

Southeast Asia

ANTHROPOGENIC RIVERS: The Production of Uncertainty in Lao Hydropower | By Jerome Whitington ANTHROPOGENIC RIVERS: The Production of Uncertainty in Lao Hydropower | By Jerome Whitington
Keith Barney

LOVE, MONEY AND OBLIGATION: Transnational Marriage in a Northeastern Thai Village | By Patcharin Lapanun LOVE, MONEY AND OBLIGATION: Transnational Marriage in a Northeastern Thai Village | By Patcharin Lapanun
Manasigan Kanchanachitra

REBEL POLITICS: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderlands | By David Brenner REBEL POLITICS: A Political Sociology of Armed Struggle in Myanmar’s Borderlands | By David Brenner
Constant Courtin

CHALLENGE THE STRONG WIND: Canada and East Timor, 1975–99 | By David Webster.CHALLENGE THE STRONG WIND: Canada and East Timor, 1975–99 | By David Webster.
Ying Hooi Khoo

HIZBUT TAHRIR INDONESIA AND POLITICAL ISLAM: Identity, Ideology and Religio-Political Mobilization | By Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman HIZBUT TAHRIR INDONESIA AND POLITICAL ISLAM: Identity, Ideology and Religio-Political Mobilization | By Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman
Wasisto Raharjo Jati

Australasia & the Pacific Islands

WAR AND THE ARC OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE | By Glenn Petersen WAR AND THE ARC OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE | By Glenn Petersen
Doug Dalton

INDIGENOUS TEXTUAL CULTURES: Reading and Writing in the Age of Global Empire | Edited by Tony Ballantyne, Lachy Paterson, and Angela Wanhalla INDIGENOUS TEXTUAL CULTURES: Reading and Writing in the Age of Global Empire | Edited by Tony Ballantyne, Lachy Paterson, and Angela Wanhalla
David Troolin

A PRIMER FOR TEACHING PACIFIC HISTORIES: Ten Design Principles | By Matt K. Matsuda A PRIMER FOR TEACHING PACIFIC HISTORIES: Ten Design Principles | By Matt K. Matsuda
Michelle Ladwig Williams

OF HUMANS, PIGS, AND SOULS: An Essay on the Yagwoia Womba Complex | By Jadran Mimica OF HUMANS, PIGS, AND SOULS: An Essay on the Yagwoia Womba Complex | By Jadran Mimica
Frederick H. Damon

COLONIZING MADNESS: Asylum and Community in Fiji | By Jacqueline Leckie COLONIZING MADNESS: Asylum and Community in Fiji | By Jacqueline Leckie
Dominik Schieder

HAWAI‘I: Eight Hundred Years of Political and Economic Change | By Sumner La Croix HAWAI‘I: Eight Hundred Years of Political and Economic Change | By Sumner La Croix
David Fazzino

MAKING LAW IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The Colonial Origins of a Postcolonial Legal System | By Bruce L. Ottley, David Weisbrot, and Jean G. Zorn MAKING LAW IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The Colonial Origins of a Postcolonial Legal System | By Bruce L. Ottley, David Weisbrot, and Jean G. Zorn
Michael Main

ROARS FROM THE MOUNTAIN: Colonial Management of the 1951 Volcanic Disaster at Mount Lamington | By R. Wally Johnson ROARS FROM THE MOUNTAIN: Colonial Management of the 1951 Volcanic Disaster at Mount Lamington | By R. Wally Johnson
John Barker