This book examines interethic relationships between groups and the dynamics of exchange networks throughout Asia and includes case studies based in Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Nepal, China, Indonesia, and Russia.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, said in the Far Eastern Economic Review, 28 October 1996: “The threat is from inside ... So we have to be armed, so to speak. Not with guns, but with the necessary laws to make sure the country remains stable.” He implied that ethnic conflict and political instability are inevitable in a multi-ethnic society unless protected by certain laws. Ethnic conflict is like a time bomb. The misuse of human rights for political ends and to exploit ethnic sentiments can spark ethnic conflict. In theory, the modern nation-state must achieve pluralism in its project of nation building. There are few nations in the world which consist of a single ethnic group. Yet, multi-ethnicity also seems to be a serious challenge to any system of government, especially in Southeast Asia, as it adds possibly deep-running cleavages to societies. Some groups are marginalized in the course of nation-building as a result of the nature of the relationship between nation and state. Arjun Appadurai stated that “the nation and the state have become one another’s project”: groups try to capture states and their power while states try to “monopolize about the nationhood.” There is always tension between the centre and the margin. The centre often consists of one ethnic group and marginalised minority groups are denied their right to equality. Sometimes horrible wars with thousands of victims commence as a consequence of such processes of ethnically-framed nation-building. Therefore, a democratic setting should be functionally superior; that is, in a better position to moderate the escalatory tendencies inherent in a multi-ethnic setting, thereby achieving less violence-prone conflict management, and its eventual resolution in Southeast Asia. This book is intended for anyone interested in the subject of ethnic relations and conflicts, especially politicians, policy makers, civil society activists, academia, and students of ethnic/race studies and Southeast Asian politics.

Potentially destabilizing ethnic conflicts continue to challenge nation-states worldwide: The countries of Southeast Asia are no exception. Globalization, population movements and historical and political fault-lines in a tremendously ethnically diverse region, coupled with continuing uneven access to economic development, have seen the resurgence of old conflicts or the flaring up of new ones. Along with violence and the loss of life and livelihood there are also longer-term cross-border impacts to consider in the form of refugees or displaced persons, illegal migrant labour, as well as drug and arms smuggling. Written by country experts, this volume examines ethnic configurations as well as conflict avoidance and resolution in five Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Ethnic Conflicts in Southeast Asia is a resource for scholars, policy-makers, NGO personnel, analysts and others who wish to deepen their understanding of the region, or develop strategies to prevent, modulate and resolve such conflicts.

· A Space for the Possible: Globalization and English Language Learning for Tibetan Students in China (007-032) by Clothey, Rebecca, and Elena McKinlay · An A mdo Tibetan Pastoralist Family's Lo sar in Stong skor Village by Thurston, Timothy, and Tsering Samdrup · Hail Prevention Rituals and Ritual Practitioners in Northeast Amdo (071-111) by Rdo rje don grub · Pyramid Schemes on the Tibetan Plateau (113-140) by Gonier, Devin, and Rgyal yum sgrol ma · Tibetans and Muslims in Northwest China: Economic and Political Aspects of a Complex Historical Relationship (141-186) by Horlemann, Bianca · Sacred Dairies, Dairymen, and Buffaloes of the Nilgiri Mountains in South India (187-256) by Walker, Anthony · An A mdo Family's Income and Expenditure in 2011 (257-283) by Rdo rje bkra shis, Rta mgrin bkra shis, and Charles Kevin Stuart · Architecture in The bo, 'Brug chu, and Co ne Counties, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu (285-333) by Chos dbying rdo rje · Change, Reputation, and Hair: A Female Rite of Passage in Mtha' ba Village (335-364) by Blo bzang tshe ring, Don 'grub sgrol ma, Gerald Roche, and Charles Kevin Stuart · A College Student (367-386) by 'Phrin las nyi ma · Set Free by Tragedy (387-395) by G.yang mtsho skyid · Who is to Blame? (397-408) by Klu rgyal 'bum · Young Love (409-419) by Bkra shis rab rten · Silent as a Winter Cuckoo (421-426) by Pad+ma dbang chen · QQ Destiny (427-434) by Pad+ma dbang chen · Review - China's Last Imperial Frontier and The Sichuan Frontier and Tibet (437-442) by Entenmann, Robert · Review - Harnessing Fortune (443-448) by Fischler, Lisa C. · Review - Inter-Ethnic Dynamics in Asia (449-453) by Ramirez, Philippe · Review - Spirits of the Place (455-459) by Noseworthy, William B. · Review - Moving Mountains (461-469) by Noseworthy, William B. · Review - The Complete Works of Zhuang Xueben (471-476) by Holmes-Tagchungdarpa, Amy · Review - Religious Revival in the Tibetan Borderlands (477-480) by Wang, Bo · Review - The Sun Rises (481-485 ) by Bender, Mark · Review - Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China (Chinese Edition) (487-495) by Yu, Dan Smyer, and Zomkyid Drolma · Review - Labrang Monastery (497-500) by Robinson, Christina Kilby · Asian Highlands Perspectives 21 - All Papers (001-500) by Various

Following significant interethnic violence beginning in 2008, Chinese intellectuals and policymakers are now engaged in unprecedented debate over the future direction of their country's ethnic policies. This study attempts to gauge current Chinese opinion on this once-secretive and still highly sensitive area of national policy. Domestic Chinese opinion on ethnic policies over the last five years is reviewed and implications for future policies under the new leadership of CPC Secretary General Xi Jinping are explored. Careful review of a wide spectrum of contemporary Chinese commentary identifies an emerging consensus for ethnic-policy reform. Leading public intellectuals, as well as some party officials, now openly call for new measures strengthening national integration at the expense of minority rights and autonomy. These reformers argue that divisive ethnic policies adopted from the former USSR must be replaced by those supporting an ethnic "melting pot" concept. Despite this important shift in opinion, such radical policy changes as ending regional ethnic autonomy or minority preferences are unlikely over the short-to-medium term. Small-yet-significant adjustments in rhetoric and policy emphasis are, however, expected as the party-state attempts to strengthen interethnic cohesiveness as a part of its larger agenda of stability maintenance. About the author James Leibold is a senior lecturer in Politics and Asian Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Reconfiguring Chinese Nationalism (2007) and co-editor of Critical Han Studies (2012) and Minority Education in China (forthcoming). His research on ethnicity, nationalism, and race in modern China has appeared in The China Journal, The China Quarterly, The Journal of Asian Studies, Modern China, and other publications.

Although group conflict is hardly new, the last decade has seen a proliferation of conflicts engaging intrastate ethnic groups. It is estimated that two-thirds of violent conflicts being fought each year in every part of the globe including North America are ethnic conflicts. Unlike traditional warfare, civilians comprise more than 80 percent of the casualties, and the economic and psychological impact on survivors is often so devastating that some experts believe that ethnic conflict is the most destabilizing force in the post-Cold War world. Although these conflicts also have political, economic, and other causes, the purpose of this volume is to develop a psychological understanding of ethnic warfare. More specifically, Handbook of Ethnopolitical Conflict explores the function of ethnic, religious, and national identities in intergroup conflict. In addition, it features recommendations for policy makers with the intention to reduce or ameliorate the occurrences and consequences of these conflicts worldwide.