Asia
December 1996

December Article Abstracts

Title: Japan as an "Ordinary Country"
Author: James Shinn
"Most American analysts ascribe an immutable inertia to Japan's security strategy. 'The United States--Japan alliance will never change unless there is a major external change in the security environment' is a common refrain. This perspective, however, overlooks three fundamental transformations that are taking place inside the alliance. These transformations are in Japan's electoral system, its economy, and its military relations with the United States."

Title: India: Between Turmoil and Hope
Author: Sumit Ganguly
"The new regime that emerged after the general election this May is genuinely representative of the extraordinary diversity of the country. . . Within its first few months in office this coalition has sought to address many of the vexing challenges that India faces in both domestic and foreign policy, including arresting the decline of political institutions, continuing the program of economic reform, decentralizing decision making, and improving strained relations with many of India's neighbors."

Title: India's Economic Liberalization: The Elephant Comes of Age
Author: Shalendra D. Sharma
"Unlike the explosive 'tiger economies' of East and Southeast Asia or China's overheated 'dragon economy,'. . . the Indian economy has been more like a lumbering elephant slowly emerging from the shadows. Sooner or later, the world will have to come to terms with its formidable presence and power."

Title: "Asian" Human Rights, Economic Growth, and United States Policy
Author: Sidney Jones
"Many American policymakers suggest that if economic growth is allowed to continue unhampered, human rights protection will take care of itself through the growth of the middle class and the demands it will make on the political system for democratization. It is a muddled argument in many ways. . . The argument, however, is so pervasive, especially as 'commercial diplomacy' by many Western countries in Asia intensifies, that it is worth examining in more detail."

Title: Uncertainty in Suharto's Indonesia
Author: Jeffrey A. Winters
"Even as Suharto's regime fragments under its own weight, key segments of society-the military, the business community, the NGOs, or the outlawed independent unions-alternate between waiting and a game of cat and mouse. Such a vacant constellation of forces produces no clear movements and no apparent leaders."

Title: Narcopolitics in Burma
Author: Bertil Lintner
"While undoubtedly enjoying widespread popular support," Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy "lack a coherent strategy to counter SLORC. It also appears that actions taken by the West have had little impact. Political change in Burma seems to depend on when, if ever, ASEAN begins to pay less attention to geopolitical security concerns and economic gains than to human rights and the rapid spread of narcotics in the region."

Title: North Korea: The Cold War Continues
Author: Manwoo Lee
"It is a supreme irony that North Korea, faltering economically and practically abandoned by its Russian and Chinese partners, hopes to survive with the help of its enemies: the United States and its allies. That beggars can't be choosers does not seem to apply to North Korea."