Asia First?

This paper defends the traditional argument that sometime in the medieval/early modern era Europe took a historical path that set it decisively apart from other civilizations. The claim is not that medieval/early modern Europe was already more advanced than Asia in terms of overall economic performance, technological capability, and living standards. It is that from the twelfth century onwards Europe showed itself to be a great learner, in a cumulative, self-reinforcing process of assimilation, innovation, and invention. This modern trait gave Europe a unique developmental dynamic.     

Foraging–Farming Transitions in Island Southeast Asia

The origins of agriculture have been debated by archaeologists for most of the discipline’s history, no more so than in Island Southeast Asia. The orthodox view is that Neolithic farmers spread south by sea from mainland China to Taiwan and thence to Island Southeast Asia, taking with them a new material culture and domestic rice and pigs and speaking the precursor of the Austronesian languages that are spoken in the region today. Opponents of this ‘farming/language dispersal’ theory have proposed models of acculturation, in which foragers acquired new material culture and food resources by trading with farmers. However, new work in archaeology, palaeoecology, palynology and anthropology, especially in Borneo, and in genetics and linguistics for the region as a whole, is suggesting that foraging/farming transitions in Southeast Asia were far more complex than either of these opposing ‘grand narratives’ of discontinuity (population colonisation) or continuity (acculturation) allows. Through the course of the Early/Mid-Holocene new material culture, technologies and foods were variously taken up, promoted or resisted in order to provision changes in the social and ideological constitution of societies. Whilst new readings of the data for foraging–farming transitions in the region vary, a consensus is emerging that it is more useful to focus on how materials and modes of life were used to underwrite changes in social networks than to seek to explain the archaeological record in terms of migrating farmers or acculturating foragers.     

The primitive races of South‐Eastern Asia

Memoirs of my Indian Career. By SIR G. CAMPBELL, M.P., K.C.S.I., D.C.L. Edited by Sir Charles E. Bernard. With Portrait. 2 vols. London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1893. Pp. 305 and 428.

Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the adjoining Countries. With a Map and 54 Illustrations. By E. F. KNIGHT. London and New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1893. Pp. xvi + 495. Price 18s.

Australische Reise. Von R. v. LENDENFELD. Mit Illustrationen. Innsbruck: Verlag der Wagner'schen Universitäts‐Buchhandlung, 1892. 8vo. Pp. 325.

La Grèce Byzantine et Moderne. Essais Historiques par D. BIK#AAELAS. Paris: Librairie de Firmin‐Didot et C^ie, 1893. Pp. viii + 435.

Une Excursion à Ithaque. Par ERNEST SEILLI#AGERE. Dessins de Pierre Vignal d'après les Photographies de 1'auteur et carte de l'île d'Ithaque. Paris: Librairie de l'Art (L. Allison et C^ie.), 1892. Pp. 76.

Beise durch Montenegro, nebst Bemerkungen über Land und Leute. Von Dr. KURT HASSERT. Mit 30 Abbildungen nach den Aufnahmen des Verfassers, und einer Karte. Wien: A. Hartleben's Verlag, 1893. Pp. vi + 236. Price 5 M.

La France en Algérie. Par Louis VIGNON, ancien Chef du Cabinet du Ministre des Finances. Paris: Librairie Hachette et C^ie, 1893. Pp. 552.

Die Vereinigten Staaten Nordamerikas in der Gegenwart. Sitten, Institutionen, und Ideen seit dem Secessionskriege. Von CLAUDIO JANNET, Professor der Social‐ökonomie am Institut Catholique de Paris, und Dr. WALTER KÄMPFE, Mitglied der Société Internationale d'Économie Sociale in Paris. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder'sche Verlagshandlung, 1893. Pp. xliv + 704. M. 8.

The History of South Australia from its Foundation to the Year of its Jubilee. With a Chronological Summary of all the Principal Events of Interest up to Bate. By EDWIN HODDER. With Two Maps. London: Sampson Low, Marston, and Company, Limited, 1893. 2 vols. Pp. xii + 391 and vii + 400. Price £1, 4s.

Wanderings in Spain. By AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE. Sixth Edition. London: George Allen, 1892. Pp. 274. Price 7s. 6d.

Abessinien. Aus dem Nachlasse von E. F. A. MÜNZENBERGER. Herausgegeben von Jos. SPILLMANN, S.J. Mit 38 Abbildungen und einer Karte. Herder'sche Verlagshandlung. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1892. Pp. 156 and Index.

Die Wahrheit ueber Emin Pasha; die ägyptische Aequatorialprovinz und den Ssudan. Von VITA HASSAN. Erster Teil. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1893. Pp. 223.

Arthur Young's Travels in France, during the Years 1787, 1788, 1789, with an Introduction, Biographical Sketch, and Notes. Edited by Miss BETHAM‐EDWARDS. Fourth Edition, corrected and revised. London: George Bell and Sons, 1892. Pp. lix + 366. Price 3s. 6d.

Some Further Becollections of a Happy Life, selected from the Journals of Marianne North, chiefly between the years 1859 and 1869. Edited by her sister, Mrs. JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS. London: Macmillan and Co., 1893. Pp. viii + 316. Price 8s. 6d. net.

Un Royaume Polynesien. Iles Hawaï. Par G. SAUVIN. Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit et C^ie, 1893. Pp. 321.

More about the Mongols. By JAMES GILMOUR. London: The Eeligious Tract Society, 1893. Pp. 320.

Die Handelspolitik Englands und seiner Kolonien in den letzten Jahrzehnten. Von Dr. CARL JOHANNES FUCHS. Leipzig: Verlag von Duncker und Humblot, 1893. Pp. 358.

Scenerie der Alpen. Von Dr. EBEEHARD FEAAS. With Illustrations in the text, Page Plates, and a Sketch‐Map of the Alps. Leipzig: T. O. Weigel Nach‐folger, 1892. 8vo. Pp. 325.

Die Oro‐ und Hydrographie Sumatra's, nach dem Standpunkte unserer heutigen Kenntnisse. Mit einer Kartenskizze. Inaugural‐Dissertation zur Erlangung der philosophischen Doktorwürde an der Georg‐Augusts‐Universität zu Göttingen. Von JAN FREERK HOEKSTRA, aus Apeldoorn, Niederlande. Groningen, J. B. Wolters, 1893. Pp. 128.

Text‐Book of Comparative Geology. By E. KATSER, Ph.D., Professor of Geology in the University of Marburg. Translated and Edited by PHILIP LAKE, M.A., F.G.S. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1893. 8vo. Pp. 426.

An Elementary Handbook of Geology. By A. J. JUKES‐BROWNE, B.A., F.G.S., H.M. Geol. Survey. “Library of Popular Science.” London : Whittaker and Co., 1893. Pp. ix+248.

Advanced Physiography. By RICHARD A. GREGORY and J. C. CHRISTIE, F.G.S. With numerous Original Illustrations. London: Joseph Hughes and Co., 1893. Pp. 280.

La France et ses Colonies. Par E. LEVASSEUR. Vol. iii. New Edition, entirely Revised. 1893. Paris: Librairie Charles Delagrave. Pp. 371. Appendices and Indexes.

The Soil in Relation to Health. By H. A. MIERS and R. CROSSKEY. Pp. 130. Index and Illustrations. London: Macmillan and Co., 1893.

Pinetum Danicum. Conifers collected and observed by Professor CARL HANSEN. Notes sent to the Conifer Conference held at Chiswick, October 1891. [Reprinted from the Journal of the Horticultural Society, vol. xiv.—Conifer Conference Report.] London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1892. Pp. 224.

History of British Guiana. Vol. ii. By JAMES EODWAY, F.L.S. Georgetown, Demerara: J. Thomson, 1893. Pp. 308. Price $3.

Handbook of British Ouiana. By JAMES KODWAY, F.L.S. Georgetown, 1893. Pp. 93.

Tenting on the Plains, or General Ouster in Kansas and Texas. By ELIZABETH B. CUSTER. London: Cassell and Co., 1893. Pp. x + 403.

American Irrigation Engineering. A Paper read before the American Society of Civil Engineers by HEREERT M. WILSON, M.Am.Soc.C.E. With Discussion. Pp. 161 to 222. Illustrated.

Gazetteer of the Gurdaspur District, 1891–92. Bs. 3/14.—Gazetteer of the Hissar District, 1892. Rs. 3/12.—Gazetteer of the Ferozepore District, 1888–89. Rs. 2. —Gazetteer of the Karnal District, 1890. Rs. 2/8.—Gazetteer of the Ambala District, 1892–93. Rs. 2/8. Compiled and Published under the authority of the Punjab Government.

A. Hartleben's Statistische Tabelle über alle Staaten der Erde. Wien, Pest, Leipzig: A. Hartleben's Verlag, 1893. Price 50 Pf.

Guide to Ben Nevis. With an Account of the Foundation and Work of the Meteorological Observatory. Edinburgh and Glasgow: John Menzies &; Co. N.D. Pp. vi. + 69. Price 1s.     

Has the Cold War returned to East Asia?

The rise of a non-democratic China as the world ‘s second largest economy, still officially subscribing to Communism or ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ as its ideology1^?1 In Xi Jinping's first speech as the new Chinese leader, after assuming his position as Party Secretary at the 18^th Party Congress in November 2012, he declared that, “we will ensure that our Party will remain at the core of leadership in advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Xinhua report on 19 November 2012. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012cpc/2012-11/19/content_15939817.htm. By adopting the term “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” – zhongguo tese de shehui zhuyi, the Chinese Communist Party has argued that it has not abandoned socialism by introducing foreign capital and the opening up the Chinese economy to market forces. See for example a report on Deng Xiaoping's remarks to visiting Japanese delegation in 1984, “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” People's Daily, 30 June 1984. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/dengxp/vol3/text/c1220.html., has raised the spectre of the return of the Cold War to Asia with the United States and China on opposing sides, with China backed by Russia, its former Cold War ally. But to what extent are there historical parallels between the Cold War and the current East Asian international relations system?     

Asia‐Pacific security regimes: Conditions and constraints

Security regimes constitute an important test of the ‘liberal’ school of thought in contemporary international relations. In the Asia‐Pacific, interest is growing over how they may contribute to that region's future order and stability. It is argued here, however, that Asia‐Pacific security regimes cannot succeed unless ‘realist’ power‐balancing strategies are first applied, affording time for patterns of structural leadership to shape enduring security norms and institutions. The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is arguably the region's first potential post‐cold war security regime. Its fate, or that of its successor security regimes in the Asia‐Pacific, depends upon satisfying four critical conditions for regime building and upon winning the acceptance of China and the United States, the region's two key ‘structural leaders’. While the ARF does not at present seem close to satisfying these criteria, it may help to provide the breathing space necessary for a successful transition from a competitive cold war environment to a more cooperative climate in the Asia‐Pacific.     

Is price most important? Healthcare tourism in Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT

Healthcare tourism is a general term for traveling to another country to seek healthcare services. It spread from Western countries to emerging Southeast Asian nations in the past decade because of a series of factors. Price is likely considered as one of the important factors among most healthcare tourism providers and politicians. However, healthcare tourists tend to consider more before making a decision. According to some early studies, healthcare quality, package, convenience, country, price, emotional value, and social value were frequently considered factors. To examine the role of these factors, this study proposes a structural model to investigate the relationship of the perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions of three Southeast Asian countries, namely Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. A sample of size 724 is collected at the Departure Hall of the Singapore Changi International Airport within a two-month period, using a systematic random sampling method, in which every third tourist who pass the surveyor is asked to fill in the questionnaire. All of the questionnaires handed out on a given day referred to the same country, and the three different countries are rotated on different days. All factors are significant and it is found that the two most important factors are functional value of healthcare quality and emotional value. Price is a significant but the least important factor. This indicates that cheaper price may be just a promotional gimmick or an obvious incentive, but it is not the main driving force for healthcare tourists to make their decisions. The results also provide empirical support that emphasis on perceived value of healthcare tourism may also translate into trust in the staff and other positive feelings. It is further found that the impact of perceived value on behavioral intentions is mediated by satisfaction for all three countries.     

Rare Earths: Future Elements of Conflict in Asia?

Abstract

China’s sudden suspension of rare earth exports to Japan in September 2010 represented the opening of a new front in the international competition for natural resources. As the demands of the global economy change, the international demand for rare earths, which are used in a diverse range of high-tech industries, has also increased. As China is currently the largest rare earths exporter, its actions in regulating rare earths exports will directly affect the interests of other states in the supply chain. This paper therefore examines how China assumed this dominant position in the supply chain. It also looks at how major rare earths consumers such as Japan and South Korea are reducing their reliance on and vulnerability to Chinese rare earths supplies through means such as seabed exploration in disputed territories, which might contribute to geopolitical tensions and instability in the East Asian region.     

Arms control in Asia: yesterday's concept for today's region?

Even if the international mood in favour of steep US and Russian nuclear cuts was to last, it is unlikely to spread to Asia, where nuclear arsenals remain comparatively modest and where regional allies rely on Washington for extended deterrence. This does not render nuclear arms control irrelevant in Asia, where there is a modest but significant tradition based on informal and unilateral restraint rather than formal agreement. But as more of Asia's nuclear programs have come out of the closet and as great power relationships intensify, the region needs to look nuclear arms control more squarely in the eye. For arms control to have real purchase in tomorrow's Asia, China and the USA will need to look beyond their currently asymmetrical relationship and find an understanding based on increased nuclear transparency which also restrains their potentially escalatory competition in advanced conventional war-fighting abilities.