The West no longer regards communism in East Asia as a threat. On the contrary, because the communist party states of East Asia appear to be undergoing a process of reform directed primarily at economic modernization, it is now regarded as a potential market. The West’s attitude is reinforced by the recognition of East Asia’s economic importance more generally – a perception which in itself undoubtedly stimulated reform in the region’s communist party states. The causes, extent and consequences of reform in the East Asian communist party states are the concerns of the contributions to this volume, first published in 1988. It includes chapters on the reform process in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Mongolia; as well as examinations of the roles played by both China and the Soviet Union in the Asia-Pacific region. They demonstrate that a belief in a simple, single process of economic and political liberalization – brought about by the drive for economic modernization, the production imperative – is a misleading argument. Although the production imperative might act as a stimulus to reform, it is neither a sufficient nor even a necessary condition. In individual countries the communist party’s search for legitimacy, a change of leadership, or the relationship with the USSR have equally been the spur to reform. The drive for economic modernization may even be a consequence of the communist party’s desire to reform rather than a cause. The absence of a uniform pattern does not detract from the potential consequences of economic and political change. These challenge socialist thinking on the nature of collective life, ownership and rural society.

This book, first published in 1969, casts a critical eye over the problem of insurgency. The author sees insurgency not just as a matter of technique – military tactics or organizational skill – nor as the result of ‘force and fraud’, but as ‘people’s war’: the conditions in which the mass of the people become involved, voluntarily or otherwise, on either side. He quotes Nasution’s statement, ‘The guerrilla movement is only the result, not the cause of the problem’. People’s war brings the peasantry, hitherto ignorant, apathetic or rejected, into the political process. For ‘war is ... the continuation of politics by other means’. In Asia this was essentially a peasant’s war, arising when peasant grievances, interests or demands cannot be met under the existing ‘legitimate’ but urban or landowner-orientated system of rule. It shows little understanding to blame outside intervention when peasant – and nationalist – unrest leads to revolt. The Chinese Communists did not owe success to Soviet aid, the Vietminh to Chinese assistance or the Vietcong to North Vietnamese intervention. The conclusion applies to governments as to insurgents: no amount of outside aid can win the war for them if they themselves are incapable and the people – on whom they depend for support – have no will to fight. This book, based on first-hand experience of the area and on study of original sources, offers (1) an analysis of ‘people’s war’ in China, Indochina and Vietnam, (2) a critique of US policy in Laos and Vietnam and (3) a comparison with counter-measures in Malaya, the Philippines and Indonesia. It is both original and constructive.

Written with rare mastery and a sure sense of the essential, this concise general history of modern East Asia offers students and general readers an understanding of this dynamic region from a global perspective. It is the ideal introductory text for college survey courses in Asian and international studies.Following an introductory discussion of the regional concept, the first two chapters lay the foundations. Chapter 1 describes East Asia's geographical, human, cultural, economic, social, and political setting as it has evolved over the past several millennia, and the three major belief systems - Confucianism, Buddhism, and Islam. Chapter 2 presents a panoramic view of the region ca. 1800. The chapter introduces the "dramatis personae" - the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Indonesians, Filipinos, and others - and describes their interactions with each other and with Imperial China.The following three chapters deal with European expansionism and East Asians' responses to the civilizational challenge; the stirrings of nationalism in reaction to European colonial rule; and the remarkable rise of Imperial Japan. Chapters 6 and 7 trace Japan's bid to lead a pan-Asianist revolt against the twin threats of Western liberalism and Soviet communism, and the ensuing Pacific War. Chapters 8 and 9 span the cold war era, from postwar U.S. hopes for a "Pax Americana" to the division of East Asia into communist and anti-communist blocs. The Sino-Soviet split and the Sino-American rapprochement of the early 1970s open the way to the "East Asian miracle" and a resurgence of East Asian regionalism, surveyed in Chapter 10. A concluding chapter considers the prospects for continued economic dynamism and the balance of nationalism and pan-Asian trends in shaping the future.

Will national independence bring to the peoples of South East Asia liberty and democracy? Or will it mean corrupt government, factional strife and insolvency? Or will it mean eventual absorption by totalitarian communism? In this book, first published in 1950, the author analyses these questions, using the case history of Indonesia since 1940, in which he played a leading role, to illustrate his points. He gives an outline of the history of South East Asia, its domination by the West and its convulsion by war and nationalism. The seven nations of South East Asia – Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Indo-China, Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines – have a great deal in common: except for Siam, they are all struggling through the formative years of nationhood; except for Ceylon, they were all occupied and pillaged by Japan during the War. They are of great value to other nations as a source of raw materials and foodstuffs. Their political and economic structure is of vital importance, both to themselves and to us and unless their new nationalism can be strengthened, the free world may lose a valuable asset to its economy and an ally against totalitarianism in Asia.