Book Review Michael K. Connors, Rémy Davison,.docx

Michael K Connors5 Remy Davison, & Jrn Dosch. The New Global Politics of theAsia Pacific, 2nd edition> New York: Routledge 2012In the second edition of The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific, Michael K.Connors, Remy Davison, and Jm Dosch update and expand their excellent introductionto the Asia-Pacific. The preface promises a ''theoretically accessible account" of theregion, and the authors deliver exactly that. Each chapter examines a country, region, orissue and draws implications for Asia-Pacific politics. This analysis is supported by awealth of new data and references multiple theoretical frameworks so that students ofinternational relations (IR) can evaluate competing perspectives. Yet the language is notso technical that Asia watchers and practitioners without any theoretical training will notappreciate the arguments-The slender size of the volume is deceptive, for it covers much terrain in over 250pages. One of its many strengths is the sheer number of scholarly sources the authors citefor readers interested in learning more about a particular subject. (I have found many ofthese citations useful in my own research.) Furthermore, the book includes figures andtables to illustrate key concepts. The major IR theories summarized in the introductionand their corollaries are likewise presented throughout the book to help readers interethistorical and current events.One of the items that the authors cite as an "improvement" over the previousedition is the new chapter, 4Russia and India in the Asia Pacific." Their analysis of India,however, does not go far enough. Given the significantly changed security and economiccircumstances regarding India's rise in Asia and ties with East Asian states over the pastdecade, not devoting a discrete chapter to India alone, or, fbr that matter, mentioning itsrelevance throughout the book, is an omission. The chapter on Russia and India feelsdisjointed and is at times confusing to wade through; a case in point is the text box onpage 81 listing major events in both countries on a combined basis rather than separate!yA more thorough examination of the rise of India, as well as the role of smaller SouthAsian countries in the much-discussed rivalry between China and India, would haverounded out this book more completely.The chapter “The United States in the Asia Pacific J by contrast, iscomprehensive and covers developments into the Obama administration's third year. Itsthesis that not much has changed in the US approach to Asia will find much credenceamong American defense officials who have been working in the region fbr the past fewdecades. Despite rhetoric by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that “the UnitedStates is back in Asia J the chapter does a good job of demonstrating that the US, in fact,never left. Since the book's publication, Clinton wrote a seminal article fbr ForeignPolicy magazine called “America's Pacific Century/ emphasizing the US conmitnent tothe region. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has likewise pledged that “the UnitedStates is going to remain a presence in the Pacific for a long time We are notanticipating any cutbacks in this region. If anything, we're going to strengthen our163Journal of International and Global Studiespresence in the Pacific.' The basing of US marines in Darwin, Australia demonstratesWashington's continued interest in East Asia.The “Rise of China in the Asia Pacific" chapter provides a comprehensive historyof China,s international relations from its founding through the Cold War and itsintegration into the world economy. China analysts will likely quibble with some of thechapter,s many perspectives and data. For instance, the box on page 51 states that Chinais following a “string of pearls” strategy, which is described as a view espoused byneoconservatives (p. 54). Many observers disagree that this is (or ever was) a strategydevised by Beijing. In fact, the "string of pearls" thesis is usually attributed to Americandefense analysts who authored a report that added this phrase to the lexicon on the region.This relatively minor objection notwithstanding, the chapter adeptly navigates a wideswath of history and international relationships and situates them in theoreticalframeworks for students and analysts to make sense of China's place in the Asia-Pacific.The chapter uASEAN and the Challenge of Regionalism provides a thoroughassessment of the objectives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andthe limitations of constructivism in interpreting the institution. However, the conclusiondrawn within the text appears too ready to negate the importance of disputes in the SouthChina Sea, which are described as ''occasional saber rattling” and provocative actsthat have been on the decline” (p. 131). Despite this rather understated portrayal ofthese disputes, at the tim