East Asia: From Chinese Predominance to the Rise of the Pacific Rim

There has been in recent decades a dramatic transformation around the Pacific Rim. Japan has become an economic superpower, and Korea and the People's Republic of China are close behind, flooding the world market with computers, automobiles, and electronic components. It is even predicted that by the next century East Asia will be the workshop of the world. No longer "the Far East"--that exotic, mysterious land at the distant fringe of western consciousness--east Asia today commands the attention of the world. In East Asia, Arthur Cotterell condenses into a short, highly readable book an immense amount of historical knowledge, placing this remarkable economic boom in its proper perspective--an Asian one. To do this, Cotterell ranges from the dawn of Chinese civilization, to the rise of the Mongols and the Manchus, to Japan's emergence as the first East Asian nation to develop an industrial economy. And he brings his history up to the present, examining America's setbacks in the Korean and Vietnam War, Japan's rise as an economic superpower, and the recent histories of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, reunited Vietnam, socialist Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Cotterell not only provides insight into the past of this burgeoning region, but he offers a provocative view of the future as well. He suggests for instance that Japan, the present leader of the Pacific Rim, will eventually be overtaken by its neighbors, now engaged in a hectic pace of development (seen especially in the People's Republic of China, which has only just begun to compete as an exporter). He concludes that the relations between the Chinese and the Japanese will determine the future of East Asia. By providing an in-depth historical perspective on the most dramtic transformations taking place in the world today, Cotterell performs an invaluble service both for students of Asia as well as for businessmen who need to have a deeper understanding of their newest trading partners.