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East Asia: From Chinese Predominance to the Rise of the Pacific Rim
East Asia From Chinese Predominance to the Rise of the Pacific Rim Author:Arthur Cotterell In recent decades, there has been 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 ... more »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 compact, highly readable book an immense amount of historical knowledge, placing this remarkable economic boom in its proper perspective--an Asian one. 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 Vietman War, Japan's rise as an economic superpower, and the recent histories of countries such as Cambodia, Laos, reunited Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines. Offering a provocative view of the future of this burgeoning region, Cotterell suggests that Japan will eventually be overtaken by its neighbors, concluding that the relations between the Chinese and the Japanese will determine the future of East Asia. And, as the United States and Japan move closer to the possiblity of a trade war, Cotterell's examination of Japan's postion in the East Asian economic community is of particular importance. By providing and in-depth historical perspective on the most dramatic transformation taking place in the world today, Cotterell performs an invaluable service to all those who need to have deeper understanding of our newest trading partners.« less