Book Review: Asia and the Pacific: International Conflict in the Asia-Pacific: Patterns, Consequences and Management
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_122 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
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Asia and the Pacific
Furthermore, the concluding chapter simply recaps each
case, only dedicating three pages to extrapolating general
trends about conflict in the Asia-Pacific.
International Conflict in the Asia-Pacific: Pat-
The book’s clarity of prose and structure makes it
terns, Consequences and Management by Jacob
easy to recommend to those looking for a general
Berkovitch and Mikio Oishi. Abingdon: Routledge,
introduction to conflict in the Asia-Pacific. For scholars
2010. 220pp., £24.95, ISBN 978 0 415 58004 5
seeking a novel theoretical argument, however, there
With the Asia-Pacific emerging as the focus of strategic
may be disappointment.
attention from the United States and China, a serious
James Whibley
study of conflict management in the region is invalu-
(Victoria University of Wellington)
able. Jacob Berkovitch and Mikio Oishi offer an over-
view of the region’s most contentious conflicts: the
Chaos, Violence, Dynasty: Politics and Islam in
perennial Korean Peninsula problem; the issue of inde-
Central Asia by Eric McGlinchey. Pittsburgh PA:
pendence for Taiwan; tension between India and Paki-
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011. 216pp., £24.50,
stan; and the ambiguous status of the Spratly Islands.
ISBN 9780822961680
Although pessimistic about eliminating conflict, the
authors provide several examples of effective conflict
The post-Soviet trajectories of Central Asian states have
management in the region.
perplexed a number of observers. There are many
The introductory chapter takes a broad view of
reasons for confusion. First, with few exceptions these
trends in global conflict. Quantitative measures provide
countries continue to be ruled by individuals who
a sobering view of conflict in the twentieth century by
were part of the former Soviet elite. Second,...
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