Book reviews

H.E. Chehabi and Alfred Stepan (eds). Politics, Society and Democracy. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995. xxii + 414 pp. $US64.95.

Ronald Rogowski (ed.). Comparative Politics and the International Political Economy Vols I & II. Hants: Edward Elgar, 1995. xxi + 992 pp. £170.00 (cloth).

Martin Wight. International Theory: The Three Traditions. Edited by Gabriele Wight and Brian Porter. London: Leicester University Press, 1994. xxvii + 286 pp. No price given.

Martin Shaw. Global Society and International Relations. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994. vii + 197 pp. £UK39.50 (cloth). £UK11.95 (paper).

Alvin and Heidi Toffler. War and Anti‐War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993. xiii + 302 pp. $US22.95 (paper).

Coral Bell (ed.). The United Nations and Crisis Management: Six Studies. Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1994. 144 pp. $17.50 (paper).

Kevin Dements and Christine Wilson (eds). UN Peacekeeping at the Crossroads. Canberra: Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1994. xi + 176 pp. $15.00 (paper).

Rosemary Righter. Utopia Lost—The United Nations and World Order. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1995. x + 421 pp. $US29.95 (cloth).

Kevin Clements and Robin Ward (eds). Building International Community: Co‐operating for Peace Case Studies. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xiv + 354 pp. $19.95 (paper).

International Commission on Peace and Food. Uncommon Opportunities—An Agenda for Peace and Equitable Development. London: Zed Books, 1994. xiii + 210 pp. $19.95 (paper), $55.00 (cloth).

Jonathan Dean. Ending Europe's War: The Continuing Search for Peace and Security. New York: Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1994. xv + 439 pp. $US34.95 (cloth).

G. Wyn Rees (ed.). International Politics in Europe: The New Agenda. London: Routledge, 1993. viii + 191 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Hugh Miall (ed.). Minority Rights in Europe: The Scope for a Transnational Regime. London: Pinter, 1994. 120 pp. No price given.

Geoffrey Ponton. The Soviet Era: Soviet Politics from Lenin to Yeltsin. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994. viii + 293 pp. $39.95 (paper).

Russell Trood and Deborah McNamara (eds). The Asia‐Australia Survey 1994. South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1994. xi + 340 pp. $79.95 (cloth).

Sheldon W. Simon (ed.). East Asian Security in the Post‐Cold War Era. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. x + 230 pp. No price given.

Robert S. McNamara (with Brian Van DeMark). In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Random House, 1995. xviii + 414 pp. $US27.50 (cloth).

Donald Kirk. Korean Dynasty. Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung. Hong Kong: Asia 2000/Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. 383 pp. $US25.00 (paper), $US65.00 (cloth).

Pradeep Taneja. Hong Kong and Australia: Towards 1997 and Beyond. Australia‐Asia Papers, Number 70. CSAAR, Brisbane: Griffith University, 1994. 40 pp. $8.00.

Ming K. Chan (ed.). Precarious Balance: Hong Kong Between China and Britain 1842–1992. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. xi + 235 pp. $US22.00 (paper), $US55.00 (cloth).

Shinya Sugiyama and Milagros C. Guerrero (eds). International Commercial Rivalry in Southeast Asia in the Interwar Period. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Center for International and Area Studies, 1994. ix + 222 pp. No price given.

Sarvepalli Gopal (ed.). Anatomy of a Confrontation: Ayodhya and the Rise of Communal Politics in India. London: Zed Books, 1994. viii + 240 pp. £9.95 (paper), £29.95 (cloth).

Richard Evans. Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1993. x + 339 pp. $39.95 (cloth).

Virginia Matheson Hooker (ed.). Culture and Society in New Order Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur Oxford University Press, 1993. xxiii + 302 pp. $49.95 (cloth).

Howard Dick, James Fox and Jamie Mackie (eds). Balanced Development: East Java in the New Order. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993. xxi + 367 pp. $64.95 (cloth).

Young Whan Kihl (ed.). Korea and the World: Beyond the Cold War. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press, 1994. xii + 371 pp. $21.95 (paper), $64.00 (cloth).

Christopher Tremewan. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore. New York: St Martin's Press, 1994. 252 pp. $88.00.

Francis T. Seow. To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison. Monograph 42, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, 1994. xxxiii + 293 pp. $50.00.

Anthony Milner. The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya: Contesting Nationalism and the Expansion of the Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. vii + 328 pp. $75.00 (cloth).

David McKnight. Australia's Spies and Their Secrets. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xvii + 350 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Fiona Capp. Writers Defiled: Security Surveillance of Australian Authors and Intellectuals 1920–1960. Ringwood, Victoria: McPhee Gribble, 1993. 239 pp. No price given.

Errol Hodge. Radio Wars. Truth, Propaganda and the Struggle for Radio Australia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 336 pp. $75.00 (cloth), $29.95 (paper).

Joan Beaumont (ed.). Australia's War 1914–18. St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1995. xxii + 195 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Peter Jennings. Searching for Insecurity: Why the ‘Secure Australia Project’ is Wrong About Defence. West Perth: Institute of Public Affairs, 1994. vi + 68 pp. $14.00 (paper).

Bjorn Hagelin. Arm in Arm: Swedish‐Australian Military Trade and Cooperation. Canberra: Peace Research Centre Monograph No.15, Australian National University, 1994. x + 164 pp. $15.00.     

Political economy of central banks

Current developments in the field of comparative political economy have emphasised the role and influence of corporatist institutions in the determination of levels of economic and social performance. Without denying the importance of corporatism, the paper argues for the need to acknowledge and examine the impact of other institutions, such as central banks, on economic performance. Given the increasing role of monetary policy in fashioning economic development, central banks have assumed a key economic and political role in policy formation. Against this background, the paper explores the theoretical and empirical implications of central bank independence, and suggests that a greater emphasis should be placed on the nature and type of central bank independence and on the institutional linkages between central banks and other state institutions.     

Book review

R.K.I. Quested, Sino‐Russian Relations: A Short History. George Allen & Unjvin, Sydney, 1984, pp. 194. $22.95 (cloth), $10.95 (paper).

Jonathan Steele, The Limits of Soviet Power: The Kremlin's Foreign Policy — Brezhnev to Chernenko. Revised and updated edition. Penguin Books Australia, Ringwood, Vic., 1984, pp. xii + 290. $8.95.

Joseph L. Nogee and Robert H. Donaldson, Soviet Foreign Policy Since World War II. Second edition. Pergamon Press, New York, 1984, pp. vii + 352. No price given.

Jiri Hochman, The Soviet Union and the Failure of Collective Security, 1934–1938. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1984, pp. 253. $74.95.

Robert V. Daniels, Russia: The Roots of Confrontation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1985, pp. xiii + 411. No price given.

Wolf Mendl, Western Europe and Japan Between The Superpowers. Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 181. $31.95.

G. Flynn and H. Rattinger, The Public and Atlantic Defense. Rowman and Allanheld, and Croom Helm, London, 1985, pp. xviii + 398. No price given.

The United Nations Library and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, The League of Nations in Retrospect. Walter de Gryter, Berlin, 1983, pp. xii + 427. $74.70.

T.B. Millar with Robin Ward (eds), Current International Treaties, Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 558. $59.95.

Susan Strange (ed.), Paths to International Political Economy. George Allen Unwin, London, 1985, pp.xi + 209. $45.00 (cloth), $17.95 (paper).

Andrew J. Pierre (ed.), Europe‐America: vol 2, Unemployment and Growth in the Western Economies. Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 1984, pp x + 142. $US5.95.

D.K. Forbes and P.J. Rimmer (eds), Uneven Development and the Geographical Transfer of Value. Human Geography Monograph 16, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1984, pp. xiii + 297. $12.00.

B.A. Santamaria, Daniel Mannix, The Quality of Leadership. Melbourne University Press, 1984, xi + 272, $27.50.

Stuart Harris (ed.), Australia's Antarctic Policy Options. CRES Mongraph 11. Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1984, pp.xxi + 412. $15.95.

Ramesh Thakur, In Defence of New Zealand: Foreign Policy Choices in a Nuclear Age. Pamphlet No. 46, New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Wellington, 1984, pp.164. $NZ9.95.

Paul G. Lewis (ed.), Eastern Europe: Political Crisis and Legitimation. Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 202. $33.95.

George Sanford, Polish Communism in Crisis. Croom Helm, London and Canberra; St Martin's Press, New York, 1983, pp. 249. $27.50.

Eva Kolinsky, Parties, Opposition and Society in West Germany. Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 357, $37.95.

Romuld J. Misiunas and Rein Taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940–1980. C. Hurst, London, 1983, pp. xvi + 333. $29.95.

Anthony Hyman, Afghanistan Under Soviet Domination, 1964–83. Second Edition. McMillan, London, 1984, pp. 247. $18.95.

David Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch. Second edition. Faber and Faber, London and Boston, 1984, pp. 475. $29.95.

Ritchie Ovendale, The Origins of the Arab‐Israeli Wars. Longman, New York, 1984, pp. v + 232. $16.70.

Juliana Peck, The Reagan Administration and the Palestinian Question: The First Thousand Days. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington, 1984, pp xi + 138. $US7.00.

Institute for Palestine Studies, The Karp Report (an Israeli Government Inquiry into Settler Violence against Palestinians on the West Bank). Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington, 1984, pp. 90. $US3.95.

Mohamed Heikal, Autumn of Fury. Deutsch, London, 1983, pp. 290. $19.95.

Anthony Payne, The International Crisis in the Caribbean. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1984, pp. 177. $29.95.

Anthony Payne, Paul Sutton and Tony Thorndike, Grenada: Revolution and Invasion. Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 233. $35.95.

Ian Hancock, White Liberals, Moderates and Radicals in Rhodesia 1953–1980, Croom Helm, London and Sydney; St Martin's Press, New York 1984, pp. 230. $31.95.

A.J.Christopher, Colonial Africa. Croom Helm, London and Canberra; Barnes & Noble Books, New Jersey, 1984, pp. 232. $39.95.

T.B. Millar. South African Dilemmas. Canberra Studies in World Affairs No. 17. Department of International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra, 1983, pp. 82 $7.00.

J.K. Cilliers, Counter‐Insurgency in Rhodesia. Croom Helm, London, 1985, pp. 266. $33.95.

R.J. May and Francisco Nemenzo (eds), The Philippines After Marcos. Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1985, pp. 239. $35.95.

F. Poole and M. Vanzi, Revolution in the Philippines: the United States in a Hall of Cracked Mirrors. McGraw‐Hill, New York, 1984, pp. 357. $US18.95.

Community Aid Aboard, The Third World War. The Philippines Front. Community Aid Abroad, Melbourne, 1984, pp. 51, plus Study Guide (pp. 24). $5.00, $2.00.

A.W. McCoy, Priests on Trial, Penguin Books Australia, Ring‐wood, Vic., 1984, pp. xii + 239. $6.95.

David K. Wyatt, Thailand — A Short History. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1984, pp. xviii + 350. $US27.50.

Leslie Russell Oates, Populist Nationalism in Prewar Japan: A Biography of Nakano Seigo. George Allen & Unwin Australia, Sydney, 1985, pp. 135. $14.95.

Robert W. Barnett, Beyond War. Japan's Concept of Comprehensive National Security. Pergamon‐Brassey's International Defence Publishers, Washington, 1984, pp. xv + 155. $21.00 (cloth), $14.00 (paper).

Stephen D. Cohen, Uneady Partnership: Competition and Conflict in U.S.‐Japanese Trade Relations. Ballinger Publishing, Cambridge, Mass., 1985, pp xvi + 228, $67.00.     

Internationalisation of the Chinese subnational state and capital: the case of Yunnan and the Greater Mekong Subregion

This article examines the participation of China's Yunnan Province in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in order to understand the dynamics behind the regionalisation and internationalisation strategies adopted by a Chinese subnational state. It argues that the Yunnan case demonstrates the outflow of state capital—both national and provincially based—to have been instrumental in harnessing Beijing's and Kunming's political support for programs of subregional economic cooperation. This political support has led to a state capital alliance underpinning the economic expansion of provincial state capital into the GMS. It also argues that subregional governance arrangements, such as those featuring in the GMS, embed the competitive advantage of state capital through new forms of extra-territorial governance that ostensibly de-emphasises the political dimensions of state capital. The internationalisation of Yunnan subnational state is reflected in its political strategy of subregional governance. These changes point to complex rescaling of not just national state but also subnational states in Asia that find expression in variegated regional and subregional political projects.     

Book reviews

Daniel Archibugi and David Held (eds), Cosmopolitan Democracy: An Agenda for a New World Order. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press, 1995. $37.95.

Catherine McArdle Kelleher, The Future of European Security: An Interim Assessment. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995. vii + 216 pp. $US14.95 (paper).

Jacques Polak, The World Bank and the IMF: A Changing Relationship. Washington, DC: Brookings Occasional Papers, 1994. $US9.95 (paper).

Catherine Gwin, US Relations with the World Bank 1945–72. Washington, DC: Brookings Occasional Papers, 1994. $US9.95 (paper).

Mark D. Steinberg and Vladimir M. Khrustalev, The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution. Translated by Elizabeth Tucker. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995. 400 pp. $US27.50 (cloth).

I. William Zartman (ed.), Elusive Peace: Negotiating an End to Civil Wars. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995. 353 pp. $US42.95 (cloth) & $US 18.95 (paper).

Janet E. Heininger, Peacekeeping in Transition: The United Nations in Cambodia. New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1994. xii + 183 pp. No price given.

David Bouchier and John Legge (eds), Democracy in Indonesia: 1950s and 1990s. Clayton: Monash Papers on Southeast Asia No. 31, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994. xviii + 324 pp. No price given.

John Bresnan, Managing Indonesia: The Modern Political Economy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. xi + 375 pp. $US21.00 (paper).

Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s. St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xiii + 370 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Jutta Berninghausen and Birgit Kerstan, Forging New Paths: Feminist Social Methodology and Rural Women in Java. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1992. xiv + 289 pp. No price given.

Lorraine M. Elliott, International Environmental Politics: Protecting the Antarctic. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. xv + 336 pp. $89.95 (cloth).

Peter Uvin, The International Organisation of Hunger. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1994. xvi + 334 pp. £45.00 (cloth).

Jeremy Seabrook, Victims of Development: Resistance and Alternatives. London and New York: Verso, 1993. vi + 250 pp. $39.95 (paper).

Garry Rodan (ed.), Singapore Changes Guard: Social, Political and Economic Directions in the 1990s. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire and New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993, 1994. xxii + 209 pp. $39.99 (cloth).

Robert J. Muscat, The Fifth Tiger: A Study of Thai Development Policy. Tokyo: M.E. Sharpe/United Nations University Press, 1994. xvi + 339 pp. $US22.50 (paper).

Gabriel Sheffer (ed.), Innovative Leaders in International Politics. New York: State University of New York Press, 1993. xviii + 294 pp. $US19.95 (cloth).

John King, Handshake in Washington: The Beginnings of Middle East Peace? Reading, UK: Ithaca Press, 1994. x + 234 pp. No price given.

Bui Tin, Following Ho Chi Minh: Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel. Translated from the Vietnamese and Adapted by Judy Stowe and Do Van. London: Hurst and Company, 1995. xx + 202 pp. £25.00 (cloth).     

The Urban Sensorium: Space, Ideology and the Aestheticization of Politics

This essay outlines a theoretical framework for investigating the links between the production of urban space (Lefebvre) and the production of ideology (Althusser) and hegemony (Gramsci) by proposing the concept of “the urban sensorium”. With a view to the aesthetics of urban experience and everyday life, this concept aligns Fredric Jameson's “postmodern” adaptation of city planner Kevin Lynch's research on “cognitive mapping” with Walter Benjamin's insights on “aestheticizing politics” in order to ask: how does urban space mediate ideology and produce hegemony while aestheticizing politics? In so doing, the spotlight falls on a conceptual constellation including four key theoretical terms: “ideology”, “aesthetics”, “mediation” and “totality”. While working through them, the essay argues that Jameson's outstanding contribution to a spatialized understanding of “postmodernism” lies above all in his Marxist (Lukácsian, Althusserian and Sartrean) theorization of mediation and totality; whereas radical students of the city can find the richest dialectical elaboration of these two concepts with special attention to space and urbanism in the oeuvre of Henri Lefebvre, especially in the recently translated The Urban Revolution.     

Trump,the authoritarian populist revolt and the future of the rules-based order in Asia

In this short article, the authors analyse the implications of the election of Donald Trump for the future of the liberal rules-based order, with specific emphasis on its implications for the Asian region. Departing from the institutional fetishism that figures prominently in the literature, the authors argue that this liberal order needs to be conceptualised in terms of its social foundations. Particularly important to consider, in terms of understanding these social foundations, is the nature of social relations in the USA. The election of Trump reflects the deep crisis of the US state and the rise of a new ‘authoritarian populism’. The authors trace the roots of this authoritarian populism to patterns of global capitalist transformation, the crisis of the US state and the modes of crisis management that this has generated. They then explore the implications of Trump’s authoritarian populism for the region.