The Pacific Basin since 1945: An International History (The Postwar World) - Softcover

THE POSTWAR WORLD
General Editors: A. J. Nicholls and Martin S. Alexander

The nations of the Pacific Basin - in East and Southeast Asia, Australasia, the Pacific islands and the Americas - make up the world's largest economic zone, and its most culturally diverse region. In recent years its Asian 'Tiger Economies' have suffered economic collapse and, while there have been moves for more international cooperation, unfinished business from the Cold War has produced continuing conflict and instability.

The new edition of this pioneering book traces the postwar inter-relationships of all the rim and island nations. It gives a unique impression of the make-up of the region, and the tensions within it, at a time when the foreign policy of the United States is increasingly looking westward, and Eastern Asia and the Pacific are becoming the centre of world attention politically and economically. It links together themes of local and international significance such as:
# the creation of Japan's new economic order in the Pacific Basin.
# the United States' crusades against communism (real and imagined) in Asia and Latin America.
# the neglected history of the Pacific islands.
# the handing over of imperial possessions, including China's absorption of Hong Kong.
# the East Asian economic crisis.
# unrest and suppression in East Timor.

The recent ending of the Cold War has offered opportunities - and even produced movements - for peace and cooperation in the Pacific Basin. However, Roger Thompson concludes that ongoing economic inequalities in the region, exacerbated by trade rivalry and the ever-present problems of cultural diversity, are likely to prolong existing conflicts and provoke new ones in the future.

The book integrates a wide range of information from books and articles; from published and unpublished sources, including recently opened Russian and American archives; and from the first-hand experiences of participants, including those of the author, in Pacific Basin affairs. Vigorously written and strongly argued, no other account brings together all the threads of the development of international relations in this complex and fascinating region.

ROGER C. THOMPSON is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of New South Wales, based at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra.