asia pacific research center div of the institute for international studies stanford (11 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Coverage of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) all too often focuses solely on nuclear proliferation, military parades, and the personality cult around its leaders. As the British ambassador to North Korea, John Everard had the rare experience of living there from 2006, when the DPRK conducted its first nuclear test, to 2008, just before Kim Jong Ils stroke. While stationed in Pyongyang, Everards travels around the DPRK provided him with numerous opportunities to meet and converse with North Koreans. Only Beautiful, Please goes beyond official North Korea to unveil the human dimension of life in that hermetic nation. Everard recounts his impressions of the country and its people, his interactions with them, and his observations on their way of life. He provides a picture as well of the life of foreigners in this closed society, considers how the DPRK evolved to its current state, and discusses the failure of current approaches to tackle the challenges that it throws up. The book is illustrated with striking and never-before-seen photographs taken by Everard during his stay in North Korea. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. From 2007 to 2011 South Korean filmmaker and newspaper reporter Hark Joon Lee lived among North Korean defectors in China, filming an award-winning documentary on their struggles. Crossing Heaven's Border is the firsthand account of his experiences there, where he witnessed human trafficking, the smuggling of illicit drugs by North Korean soldiers, and a rare successful escape from North Korea by sea.As Lee traces the often tragic lives of North Korean defectors who were willing to risk everything for their hopes, he journeys to Siberia in pursuit of hidden North Korean lumber mills; to Vietnam, where defectors make desperate charges into foreign embassies; and along the 10,000-kilometer escape route for defectors stretching from China to Laos and to Thailand. From 2007 to 2011 South Korean filmmaker and newspaper reporter lived among North Korean defectors in China. This title offers an account of his experiences there, where he witnessed human trafficking, the smuggling of illicit drugs by North Korean soldiers, and a rare successful escape from North Korea by sea. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Using detailed analyses of China, India, and the Philippines, this book argues that key factors in this phenomenon include the linkage between socioeconomic decline, loss of political power, and narrowing of identity; nationalism and its associated connotations of the assimilation of minorities; and the weakness of civil society generally in Asia. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Drawing on social science expertise from China, India, and the United States, the contributors examine the social and economic challenges for policy across a range of domains, from family planning and old-age support to human capital investment, poverty alleviation, and broader issues of governance. Drawing on social science expertise from China, India, and the United States, the contributors to this study examine the social and economic challenges for policy across a range of domains, from family planning and old-age support to human capital investment, poverty alleviation, and broader issues of governance. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Japan's first decade of the twenty-first century is often called the second lost decade, following the post-bubble lost decade of the 1990s, characterized by policy paralysis and overall lackluster economic growth. For those studying Japan more closely, however, the same decades reveal nothing short of a broad transformation in numerous core tenets of Japan's postwar political economy. How can we best capture this transformation?Each chapter in this volume examines a different aspect of Japan's political economy within a longer historical trajectory, from multiple angles, to depict a flexible but resilient system. They include: a comprehensive overview of the political economy; Japan's financial system; corporate reorganization; the politics of reform; small and medium enterprises and the labor market; compensation systems; and foreign multinational corporations. The editors characterize Japan's process of change as syncretism - practices foreign, domestic, old and new were selectively adopted, mixed and matched, along the way creating a new and unique hybrid system. Japan's first decade of the twenty-first century is often called the "second lost decade," following the post-bubble "lost decade" of the 1990s, characterized by policy paralysis and overall lackluster economic growth. This book examines a different aspect of Japan's political economy within a longer historical trajectory. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Scholar and journalist Kim Hakjoon's latest book on North Korea is a timely analysis of the rise of the Kim Il Sung family dynasty and the politics of leadership succession in Pyongyang. It includes coverage of the death of Kim Jong Il and the advent of his young son Kim Jong Eun as the new supreme leader. Drawing on official North Korean statements and leaked confidential documents, journalistic accounts, defector reports, and the observations of foreigners, the book synthesizes virtually all that is known about the history of the secretive family and how it operates within a bizarre governing system. Particularly valuable for a Western audience is the author's extensive use of South Korean studies of the Kim family, many of which have never been translated into English. Dynasty is insightful reading for officials, journalists, scholars, and students interested in the Korean Peninsula and its prospects. Drawing on official North Korean statements and leaked confidential documents, journalistic accounts, defector reports, and the observations of foreigners, this book synthesizes virtually all that is known about the history of the secretive family and how it operates within a bizarre governing system. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. In the past twenty years, Japan has undergone dramatic changes. Electoral reform has altered the relationship between politicians and voters, and Japan is increasingly a two-party system. The popularity of former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro highlighted the salience of telegenic party leaders. Amid so many shifts, it remains unclear whether such changes will stand the test of time and where Japanese politics is heading. However, it is not too early to assess the permanence and the direction of political change in Japan. In the past twenty years, Japan has undergone dramatic changes. Electoral reform has altered the relationship between politicians and voters, and Japan is increasingly a two-party system. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Kim Jong-il once declared he would transform North Korea into a 'great and powerful country' by 2012, apparently believing that nuclear weapons would compel the international community to engage on his terms. With no such prospect in sight, North Korea faces a multitude of intractable problems. Will North Koreans accept his son as their leader, and will he embrace new thinking to solve the country's problems? Why do North Korean leaders resist reform of an economic system that impoverishes the people? Can a country so dependent on outside help continue to defy the international community? Why do North Korean leaders resist reform of an economic system that impoverishes the people? Can a country so dependent on outside help continue to defy the international community? In Troubled Transition, leading international experts examine these dilemmas, offering new insights into how a troubled North Korea may evolve in light of the ways other command economies and totalitarian states have transitioned. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) set about reforming its centrally planned economy, it faced the thorny policy question of how to reform its state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Should it support a shift from public to private ownership of the means of production? Such a shift would challenge not only the CCP's socialist ideology but also its very legitimacy. Mixing the business of corporate restructuring with the politics of socialism presented nothing short of a policy nightmare.With policy-relevant acuity, the contributors to this wide-ranging volume address the questions about reform programs that have plagued Chinaand East Asia more broadlysince the 1990s. While China, Japan, and South Korea have all been criticized for implementing reform too slowly or too selectively, this volume delves into the broader contexts underlying certain institutional decisions. The book seeks to show that seemingly different political economies actually share surprising similarities, and problems. While Going Private in China sheds new light on China's corporate restructuring, it also offers new perspectives on how we think about the process of institutional change. As the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) set about reforming its centrally planned economy, it faced the thorny policy question of how to reform its state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Pharmaceutical policies are interlinked globally, yet deeply rooted in local culture. Prescribing Cultures examines how pharmaceuticals and their regulation play an important and often contentious role in the health systems of the Asia-Pacific. The first section of this timely book which includes a foreword by Michael Reich of Harvard University addresses pharmaceutical policy in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, and India. The second section focuses on two crosscutting themes: differences in "prescribing cultures," especially among physicians, who are the primary dispensers of medicine in Asia, and the challenge of balancing access to drugs with incentives for innovation. The book's contributors discuss important issues for U.S. policy, notably drug imports from Asia, regulation of global supply chains to assure drug safety and quality, and new legislation to encourage development of drugs for neglected diseases. In Prescribing Cultures, pharmaceutical policy serves as a window into the economic trade-offs, political compromises, and cultural legacies that shape regional and global health systems. Pharmaceutical policies are interlinked globally, yet deeply rooted in local culture. Prescribing Cultures examines how pharmaceuticals and their regulation play an important and often contentious role in the health systems of the Asia-Pacific. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.