Books

The Modern Defense Industry Edited by Richard A. Bitzinger. Praeger Publishers, 2009

Whether it's guns and ammunition or multidimensional anti-terrorism systems, the defense industry is dynamic, complex, and ubiquitous. It is also mysterious, powerful, and controversial, involving thousands of players worldwide—from suppliers and producers to government and military procurers to shadowy figures that trade in the black market. This comprehensive, two-volume reference will explore, on a global scale, the various issues, concepts, problems, and controversies surrounding the rise of the modern defense industry. Unparalleled in its scope and insight, The Modern Defense Industry will prove invaluable to the industry's critics and champions alike.

The phenomenon of a more-or-less permanent defense industry—especially one so wide in scale, breadth (air, sea, land, and space), technology, and geography—is still relatively new. Until now, its implications for politics, economics, and technology have not been adequately discussed in an authoritative, accessible format for scholars and researchers, business people, journalists, policymakers, and interested laymen.
The Modern Defense Industry addresses the period from 1945 to the present, covering the United States, Europe, Russia, China, Israel, and other important arms-producing and arms-procuring countries. Including essays by experts from around the world, a glossary, data on firms and governments, laws and policies, primary documents, case studies, and a host of other elements, this set will be a unique resource for anyone interested in the arms industry. It will also offer penetrating insights into topics like international relations and diplomacy, arms proliferation, and contemporary politics.

Volume I comprises chapters by experts in the field on topics like the relationship between the industry, military, and government; how new modes of warfare are changing the industry; the implications of globalization on the industry; the black and gray areas of the arms trade; and much more. Volume II features an extensive A-Z glossary of terms, lists of defense firms and government agencies, annotated primary documents, lists of leading defense contractors and key weapons systems, an analysis of key legislation, and professional organizations.

The Modern Defense Industry sets the standard for state of the art overviews of an industry that has, for better or worse, come to infuse nearly every aspect of world affairs in the early twenty-first century.

Igniting Thought, Unleashing Youth: Perspectives on Muslim Youth and Activism in Singapore Edited by Mohamed Nawab and Farhan Ali. Select Publishing, 2009

This collection of essays by young Malay/Muslims provides a refreshing, if somewhat provocative, alternative to the views that currently permeate the local Malay/Muslim community. The sometimes self-critical, yet always constructive, reflections, sample the psyche and the thought processes of young members of minority group in a heterogeneous society. They straddle ideas on the effects of Islamic extremism and radicalism; the implication and the utility of the internet; the impact of the environment on Islamic Thought and Practices; the current state of Muslim women activism; the critical need for inter-racial interaction; the urgency to emphasize education and scientific understanding; the future role of Malay/Muslim Youth Activism in Singapore. Crucially, the essays ask how young Malay/Muslims should develop a religious and a cultural identity alongside a Singaporean urban identity. For community leaders and institutions, it offers insights into the aspirations of young Malay/Muslims and their efforts to contribute to society. For non-Muslim as well as non-Malay readers, it offers implications and applications beyond the Malay/Muslim group.

This book would be of interest to anthropologists and political analysts who are studying minority group relations and the social- political dynamics of refugees-local population interactions.

Threads of Gold: The Rise of Indochinese Enterprises in Terengganu
Edited by Sue Chia Ng. VDM Verlag, 2009

It has been more than 20 years since the Cham community settled en masse in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Yet, hardly much is written about them. This book aims to provide an ethnographical study and examine the immediate history, networks and identity of the Cham Diaspora. The locals had assumed that they are either 'Malays' from Cambodia or 'Vietnamese Muslim converts'. They are Muslim-Cham from Cambodia and Vietnam, who fearing the assaults of the Pol Pot regime and possible threats to their identity-and-religion, have from 1975 begun to flee to various United Nations-run refugee camps in Thailand, hoping to be resettled in Malaysia. From their initial occupations as petty traders and odd job labourers, they have emerged as successful textile and gold retailers in KT. They have also built a socio-economic network within their community on which they could depend for various form of support.

This book would be of interest to anthropologists and political analysts who are studying minority group relations and the social- political dynamics of refugees-local population interactions.

Handbook of Asian Security Studies
Edited by Sumit Ganguly, Andrew Scobell, Joseph Liow. Routledge, 2009

Despite the richness and complexity of security issues in Asia, and the theoretical and conceptual debates these have spawned, there is no single volume that scholars can turn to for succinct, cogent and dispassionate analysis of these issues. The Handbook of Asian Security Studies addresses this important gap in the literature.

There is no denying the growing strategic significance of Asia to the global strategic order. The rapid growth of China, and now India, promises to shift the global distribution of power in the direction of Asia and poses potential challenges to US strategic pre-eminence in the 21st century. In addition, Japan’s post-World War II pacifist disposition in international and regional security affairs is coming under increasing strain in the domestic political sphere as pressure mounts for Tokyo to assume a more activist role as it returns to 'normal statehood'. In response to these shifts – both real and potential, and in an attempt to avert the rivalry that neorealists are predicting for the region – Southeast Asia has attempted to actively engage these major powers, positioning itself and its much-vaunted 'ASEAN Way' as a model for regional order and stability.

The significance of this volume lies not only in its considered exploration of security dynamics in the three distinct subregions that make up “Asia”, but also in its attempt to bridge the study of these regions themselves by exploring the geopolitical interstices that link each of them. This is done through the set of essays under the section titled 'Cross- Regional Issues', which essentially investigate and analyze security issues and challenges which cut across the geopolitical boundaries of the three regions and/or tie them together.

Radical Pathways: Understanding Muslim Radicalization in Indonesia
Edited by Kumar Ramakrishna. Praeger Security International, 2009

This book explores two of the most crucial areas of the war on terror: 1) why some Muslims turn to violent jihad, and 2) that process in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. The recent history of terrorism in Indonesia has brought this country into the world spotlight. The Bali night club bombing by Islamists in 2002 was one of the worst terrorist attacks in history. The recent violence following the executions of three of the Bali bombers, together with a number of thwarted bomb plots, demonstrate the continuing danger posed by radicalized violent Islamists in the country. Written by one of Southeast Asia's leading counter-terrorism experts, Radical Pathways offers innovative new perspectives on the sources of violent Muslim radicalization and what should be done to counter it.

Challenges to Democracy in India
Edited by Rajesh M. Basrur. Oxford, 2009

This book is a selection of lectures organized by the Nehru Centre, Mumbai. The speakers are among the most respected public personalities in India. It addresses crucial questions about the functioning of Indian democracy and the seemingly intractable problems facing it. Critical issues examined in the lectures include the persistence of elitism in contrast to the ideals of constitutional democracy, the severe decline of probity in public life, the gulf between the rulers and the ruled, the paradox between public faith in the political process of democracy and the failure of institutions, the dangers of judicial governance, the relationship between democracy and education, and the adverse consequences of unbridled economic liberalization and globalization. The contributors identify linkages between issues that have traditionally not been recognized as connected, for example the development process and the rights of indigenous peoples, caste oppression, patriarchy and gender discrimination, the centralized structure of political parties and mounting corruption, and underdevelopment, inequality, and comprehensive security.

How Diasporic Peoples Maintain their Identity in Multicultural Societies: Chinese, Africans and Jews
Edited by Vasu, Norman. Edwin Mellen Press. 2008

This book critically assesses two contemporary approaches to multiculturalism, namely Liberalism 1 and 2. The central argument forwarded here is that although Liberalism 1 and 2 are commendable approaches to the management of difference in a polity, they are unable to secure long-term inter-group harmony owing to the static understanding of identity that underpins both approaches. To highlight the shortcomings of Liberalism 1 and 2, this thesis examines the relationship between diasporas and more sessile communities. Diasporas have been specifically selected for this purpose for two reasons. Firstly, most comprehensive discussions on multiculturalism have not employed the experience of diasporas in their research. Secondly, as the number of diasporas are set to grow and as the term is traditionally used in a negative way in reference to a 'difficult' minority, there is a need to examine approaches towards multiculturalism through diasporic eyes. The three diasporas employed within are the Chinese, African and Jewish diasporas.

Security and International Politics in the South China Sea : Towards a Co-operative Management Regime
Edited by Sam Bateman, Ralf Emmers (Eds). Routledge, December 2008

The South China Sea has long been regarded as a major source of tension and instability in East Asia. Managing the risk of possible conflict over disputed claims in the South China Sea has been a significant challenge for regional relations. This book explores international politics and security in the South China Sea. It outlines the history of the South China Sea disputes, and the efforts that have been made to resolve these, assessing the broader strategic significance of the region for major geopolitical powers. In addition, new challenges have emerged of resource management, environmental protection, and most recently, of the security and safety of shipping against the threats of piracy and maritime terrorism. The book discusses the convergence of traditional and non-traditional security issues now appearing to provide a basis for co-operation in the South China Sea. It shows how the challenge of establishing co-operative relations is now being met, largely through agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China in 2002 on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and a range of recent measures for functional co-operation.

Globalisation and Defence in the Asia-Pacific : Arms Across Asia
Edited by Geoffrey Till, Emrys Chew, Joshua Ho. Routledge, November 2008

This edited volume examines the impact of globalisation on the economies, security policies and military-industrial complexes of the Asia-Pacific region.

The work is structured into three main parts. The first explores globalization and its general effects on the policy-making of the nation-state; the second section looks at how globalisation affects a country’s threat perception and defence posture within the specific context of the Asia-Pacific region; while the third explores how it impacts on a state’s allocation of resources to defence, and how economic globalization affects the defence industry, with specific reference to the procurement policies and practices of different states across the Asia-Pacific.

Lloyd's MIU Handbook of Maritime Security
Edited by : Rupert Herbert-Burns, Sam Bateman, Peter Lehr. CRC Press, September 2008

- Provides management guidance on best practices for security of ports, ships, cargo, and personnel

- Offers guidelines to conduct port security assessments

- Discusses the role of the ship security officer, including how to design a security plan and how to handle hazardous cargo

- Addresses the growing importance of ship automatic identification systems

Military Transformation and Strategy : Revolutions in Military Affairs and Small States,
Edited by Bernard Loo. Routledge, 2008

This book explores the idea of a ‘revolution in military affairs’ (RMA), which underpins the transformational agenda of the US military, and examines its implications for smaller states.

The strategic studies literature on the RMA tends to be American-centric and directed towards the strategic problems of the US military. This volume seeks to fill the gap in the literature and establish an intellectual framework that can assist other, smaller powers in their respective approaches to this issue.

The book does so in three main sections; Part I focuses on questions of transformations in strategy and war; Part II explores transformations in operations; while Part III examines possible impediments to an RMA

Bandung Revisited
The Legacy of the 1955 Asian-African Conference for International Order , Edited by See Seng Tan and Amitav Acharya. NUS Press Singapore, 2008

The 1955 Asia-Africa conference (the "Bandung Conference") was a meeting of 29 Asian and African nations that sought to draw on Asian and African nationalism and religious traditions to forge a new international order that was neither communist nor capitalist, and led six years later to the non-aligned movement. Few would dispute the notion that the inaugural meeting in 1955 was a watershed in international history, but there is much disagreement about its long-term legacy and its significance for present-day international affairs. Was it a post-colonial ideological reaction to the passing of the age of empire or an innovative effort to promote a new regionalism? Were its principles of peaceful coexistence a rhetorical flourish or a substantive policy initiative? Did the Conference help define North-South relations? And in what way did the Conference contribute to the regional order of contemporary Asia?The authors in the present volume argue that the Bandung Conference had a lasting normative influence on the contemporary regional order of Asia, and that it underlies the diplomatic principles and loosely defined normative framework that characterize present-day Asian international relations.

Crafing Cooperation: Regional International Institutions in Comparative Perspective, Amitav Acharya and Alastair Iain Johnston. Cambridge University Press, 2007

Regional institutions are an increasingly prominent feature of world politics, their characteristics and performance vary widely: some are highly legalistic and bureaucratic, while other are informal and flexible. They also differ in terms of inclusiveness, decision-making rules, and commitment to the non-interference principle. This is the first book to offer a conceptual framework for comparing the design and effectiveness of regional international institutions, including the EU,, NATO, ASEAN, the OAS, the AU and the Arab League. The case studies, by a group of leading scholars of regional institutions, offer a rigorous, historically informed analysis of the differences and similarities in institutions across Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The chapters provide a more theoretically and empirically diverse analysis of the design and efficacy of regional institutions than heretofore available.

This book is the outcome of collaboration between the Harvard University Asia Center, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard, and the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies (IDSS; now the Rajaratnam School of International Studies_ at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The Asia Center at Harvard offered a fellowship to Acharya during 2000-2001 to facilitate his collaboration with Johnston and generously offered seed funding for the project. The Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies hosted Johnston during 2003 and organized the second project workshop in Singapore during 2004. The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs hosted the first project workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts in February 2002, and hosted to Acharya during 2004 to work on the project. We are especially grateful to directors Ezra Vogel and Bill Kirby at the Asia Center, director Barry Desker at IDSS, and director and contributor Jorge Dominguez at the Weatherhead Center for their enthusiastic and consistent backing for the project. We also acknowledge a grant from the Lee Foundation, a private organization in Singapore, in support of the project. We thank Jeff Checkel, a contributor, in taking the initiative in organizing a panel discussion on the project at the American Political Science Association 2004 annual convention in Philadelphia. The editors would also like to thanks Andrew Hurrell of Oxford, Greg mills of the South African Institute of International Affairs, and Andrew Kydd of Harvard for their comments on the theme of the volume during the Singapore workshop, Tan Ban Seng, Deborah Lim, Karyn Wang, and especially Herbert Lin of IDSS for providing organizational and editorial assistance, and John Haslam and Carrie Check of the Cambridge University Press for advice and help in guiding the manuscript review process and its publication as an edited volume.

Social Resilience in Singapore: Reflections from the London Bombings, Norman Vasu. Select Publishing, 2007

In the wake of terrorist attacks including the London Bombings on 7 July 2005, the notion of resilience is receiving increased attention from social scientists. Based on the Latin word resilire - meaning to jump back or recoil - the phenomenon has been applied to the study of societies' reactions to exogenous or endogenous shocks. Using the London bombings as the impetus for reflection, Social Resilience in Singapore: Reflections from the London Bombings considers the concepts of social resilience in a time where terrorist actions are calculated not just to do damage and cause harm but also to rupture the social fabric of pluralistic societies.

The Role of Knowledge Communities in Constructing Asia-Pacific Security: How Thought and Talk Make War and Peace, Tan See Seng. The Edwin Mellen Press, 2007

This present study is an effort to address the dearth of critical and/or post-positivist perspectives in security studies of and about the Asia-Pacific region. It demonstrates how regional communities of security specialists and intellectuals, including knowledge communities such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, have contributed to just such a state-centric, political image at the expense of alternative ideas and, in so doing, have promoted and legitimized their own identities as authorities on regional security. This work shows how post-positivist analysis, contrary to what its many detractors may think, is neither prolix nor self-indulgent. Rather, it invites critical reflection on the conditions that produce particular ‘urgent questions’ (albeit at the expense of other questions) of about international relations, such as the question of Asia-Pacific regional security.

Sejarah Bank Indonesia, J. Soedradjad Djiwandono. Bank Indonesia, 2007

Period 5 :
1997-1999, Bank Indonesia during the Economic, Monetary and Banking Crisis.

Seeing the Invisible: National Security Intelligence in an Uncertain Age, Thomas Quiggin. World Scientific, 2007

Intelligence is critical to ensuring national security, especially with asymmetric threats making up most of the new challenges. Knowledge, rather than power, is the only weapon that can prevail in a complex and uncertain environment awash with asymmetric threats, some known, many currently unknown. This book shows how such a changing national security environment has had profound implications for the strategic intelligence requirements of states in the 21st century. The book shows up the fallacy underlying the age-old assumption that intelligence agencies must do a better job of connecting the dots and avoiding future failures. It argues that this cannot and will not happen for a variety of reasons. Instead of seeking to predict discrete future events, the strategic intelligence community must focus rather on risk-based anticipatory warnings concerning the nature and impact of a range of potential threats. In this respect, the book argues for a full and creative exploitation of technology to support - but not supplant - the work of the strategic intelligence community, and illustrates this ideal with reference to Singapore's path-breaking Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning (RAHS) program.

Coalition Operations in the Age of US Military Primacy, Paul T. Mitchell. The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2007

Since its emergence in 1998, the concept of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) has become a central driver behind America's military 'transformation' and seems to offer the possibility of true integration between multinational military formations.  Even though NCW, or variations on its themes, has been adopted by many armed services, it is a concept in operational and doctrinal development. It is shaping not only how militaries operate, but, just as importantly, what they are operating with, and potentially altering the strategic landscape. 

Transforming the US Military: Implications for the Asia–Pacific. Richard A. Bitzinger, 2006

Under the stewardship of Defense Secretary Rumsfield, transformation has become the guiding principle of the US military.

Ongoing developments and breakthroughs in such areas as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision-strike, stealth technologies and command and control have made the US military the most formidable armed force in the world.

One result of this transformation process is a significant change in the US military force posture, particularly overseas. As flexibility, agility and mobility become more important requirements, maintaining large numbers of US soldiers around the globe has become less imperative.

Overseas bases, while perhaps becoming fewer and smaller, more austere and more impermanent, will be increasingly valued as forward staging areas for expeditionary operations. The US military will likely come to rely even more than ever on its allies and partnering states.

Defence transformation, has major implications for the future course of US military and security policy, particularly when it comes to the Asia–Pacific region. As the US continues to transform its forces, this process will have a profound impact on the ways in which US forces operate in the region, including their future basing and deployment, where and how they’ll operate, and what kind of and what kind of equipment they’ll require.

The report examines how US defence transformation affects the leading nations and militaries in the Asia–Pacific region, and how those countries and their armed forces are responding to a transforming US military. This two-way dynamic will have repercussions for regional security that will be felt for many years to come.

US defence transformation will affect a number of critical regional security concerns, such as alliance relationships and interoperability, regional competition and cooperation, and local force modernisation activities.

US forces in the Asia-Pacific region are undergoing significant changes in terms of force structure, roles and missions and operating concepts. These are developments that countries like Australia should continue to monitor closely and to which they should react cautiously.

Sejarah Bank Indonesia, J. Soedradjad Djiwandono. Bank Indonesia, 2006

Muslim Resistance in Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines: Religion, Ideology, and Politics, Joseph Chinyong Liow. Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2006

This study analyzes the ongoing conflicts in southern Thailand and southern Philippines between indigenous Muslim minorities and their respective central governments. In particular, it investigates and interrogates the ideological context and content of conflicts in southern Thailand and southern Philippines insofar as they pertain to Islam and radicalism in order to assess the extent to which these conflicts have taken on a greater religious character and the implications this might have on our understanding of them. In the main, the monograph argues that while conflicts in southern Thailand and southern Philippines have taken on religious hues as a consequence of both local and external factors, on present evidence they share little with broader radical global Islamist and Jihadist ideologies and movements, and their contents and contexts remain primarily political, reflected in the key objective of some measure of self-determination, and local, in terms of the territorial and ideational boundaries of activism and agitation. Furthermore, though both conflicts appear on the surface to be driven by similar dynamics and mirror each other, they are different in several fundamental ways. - Suicide or Martyrdom Operation
- Killing Civilians and Non-combatants

The third part contains statements of Muslim condemnation of Bali bombing and similar acts of terrorism for readers' reference.

Unlicensed to Kill: Countering Imam Samudra's Justification for the Bali Bombing, Muhammad Haniff Bin Hassan. Peace Matters, 2006

The book is divided into three parts. The first part provides a brief introduction to Imam Samudra and the incident of Bali bombing I. It then maps out Imam Samudra's thinking behind Bali bombing I as written in his book Aku Melawan Teroris. The second part points out and provides alternative viewpoints to the following issues contained in Imam Samudra's book: - The idea of jihad as perpetual war between Muslims and non-Muslim - All non-Muslims are in conspiracy against Islam and Muslims - Jihad as the means for championing the cause of Islam - The Ruling of Jihad: Fadhu Ain and Fardhu Kifayah - Is Bali a Place For Armed Jihad? - Can Place of Vices Be Bombed? - Robbery/Theft in the Name of Jihad - Suicide or Martyrdom Operation - Killing Civilians and Non-combatants

The third part contains statements of Muslim condemnation of Bali bombing and similar acts of terrorism for readers' reference.

The Evolving Maritime Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific: Maritime Doctrines and Nuclear Weapons at Sea, Lawrence W Prabhakar, Joshua Ho, Sam Bateman. World Scientific, 2006

The Asia-Pacific has emerged as the hub of global geo-political, geo-economic and geo-strategic significance in the post-Cold War period. The rise of China and the resurgence of India will be the hallmark for the next 50 years. How this surge in power is accommodated by the incumbent powers like the United States and Japan, and how the new regional powers like China and India manage the power politics that emerge will be key determinants of regional stability.

This volume examines the national maritime doctrines as well as the nuclear weapons developments at sea of the four major powers in the Asia-Pacific, namely, China, India, Japan and the United States, to see if the evolving dynamic is a cooperative or a competitive one. In particular, the volume looks at the evolving paradigms of maritime transformation in strategy and technology, the emergent new maritime doctrines and evolving force postures in the naval orders of battle, the role and operations of nuclear navies in the Asia-Pacific, and the implications and impact of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and sea based missile defence responses in the region.

“The world's maritime future is likely to be determined in large measure in the Asia-Pacific, particularly by the developing relationship between the four major maritime powers of the area, China, India, Japan and the US. This relationship, in turn, will be decided by the way in which they react to each other's naval policies and programmes and to how they respond, individually and collectively, to strategic developments in the area. In this important book, some of the world's leading rnaritime analysts begin the task of exploring a topic crucial for the world's future.”

Professor Geoffrey fill
Author of Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century

"East Asia and the Pacific Rim are likely to be to the Twenty-First Century what Europe and the Atlantic Rim were to the Twentieth: the main locus of economic growth and thus the center of considerable potential conflict. This book looks in depth at how the four largest actors in the area, the United States, China, Japan, and India, are developing their naval power to act in this essentially maritime theater of future operations."

Norman Friedman
Author of Seapower and Strategy

Can we Meet the Threat of Global Violence, Michael Chandler and Rohan Gunaratna. Reaktion Books, 2006

Long before the devastating events of 11th September 2001 many countries had developed ways to deal with terrorists, but for the most part these groups were regarded as only domestic threats. The actions of the “Atta Group” on 9/11, however, not only destroyed the World Trade Centre but also blew away forever these attitudes of complacency. The horror and enormity of the attacks on such iconic targets prompted an unprecedented response from across the globe.

Countering Terrorism: Can We Meet the Treat of Global Violence? is a hard-hitting examination of responses to terrorism around the globe, looking not only at 9/11 but also the London and Madrid bombings, as well as terrorist activity in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Palestine and elsewhere. The authors argue that despite the international community being presented with a prime opportunity to cooperate and collaborate against trans-national terrorism, the opportunity has been missed, long-term visionary policies have been held hostage to short-term political expediency, and what should have been a watershed has become a trickle in the sand.

The authors’ collective experience—dealing with a wide range of terrorist activity, security issues and conflict situations—spans over forty years, and includes first-hand exposure in the field. Together they bring their specialist knowledge to bear on one of the most critical issues of today, offering a clear-sighted way of understanding and dealing with global terrorism.

Realpolitik Ideology: Indonesia's Use of Military Force, Leonard C. Sebastian. ISEAS, 2006

Realpolitik Ideology presents path-breaking on the Indonesian military (TNI) going beyond traditional scholarship on the TNI’s dual function or dwifungsi which has been one of the dominating fields of analysis in Indonesian studies since the 1970s. Addressed to political scientists, sociologists, historians, anthropologists and defence practitioners, this book interprets security policy in terms of its social roots asserting that the realpolitik behaviour of the TNI has strong "socio-cultural" undertones, which in turn shape the development of military doctrine. The argument made in the book is that only through a better understanding of the doctrines that reinforced the military's significant presence in Indonesian affairs and their subsequent restructuring can Indonesia's policy-makers attempt meaningful reform of the TNI.

Readable, accessible and yet exhaustively researched, this book examines the origins and development of ideas on security from the point of view of the TNI and explains why civil-military relations are still fraught with uncertainty, and why the recent changes in military ideology, removal of military posts in the legislature, ongoing divestment of its business, and other measures still do not guarantee that the military will not intervene in the affairs of state.

Human Security and the UN: A Critical History, S Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong. Indiana University Press, 2006

This project is undertaken as part of The United Nations Intellectual History Project (UNIHP), which seeks to trace the origin and analyse the evolution of key ideas and concepts about international economic and social development born or nurtured under UN auspices.

How did the individual human being become the focus of the contemporary discourse on security? What was the role of the United Nations in "securing" the individual? What are the payoffs and costs of this extension of the concept? Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong tackle these questions by analyzing historical and contemporary debates about what is to be secured. From Westphalia through the 19th century, the state's claim to be the object of security was sustainable because it offered its subjects some measure of protection. The state's ability to provide security for its citizens came under heavy strain in the 20th century as a result of technological, strategic, and ideological innovations. By the end of World War II, efforts to reclaim the security rights of individuals gathered pace, as seen in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of United Nations covenants and conventions. MacFarlane and Khong highlight the UN's work in promoting human security ideas since the 1940s, giving special emphasis to its role in extending the notion of security to include development, economic, environmental, and other issues in the 1990s.

Chinese Civil-Military Relations The Transformation of the People’s Liberation Army, Li Nan. Routledge, 2006

Chinese Civil-Military Relations addresses three key issues: What has changed in Chinese civil-military relations? What can account for these changes? And what are the implications for Chinese security policy and strategic behavior?

It tackles these questions by assessing civil-military dynamics in elite politics; such dynamics in national security and arms control policy; relations between commanders and political commissars; relations between PLA and society; civil-military dynamics regarding defense economics and logistics; and such dynamics regarding dual-use technologies and defense industry. These analyses show that the emphasis of Chinese civil-military relations has now shifted from politics to military tasks and what the possible implications of China’s military modernization drive are for security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Order and Security in Southeast Asia : Essays in memory of Michael Leifer, Joseph Chingyong Liow and Ralf Emmers. Routledge, 2006

Michael Leifer, who died in 2001, was one of the leading scholars of Southeast Asian international relations. He was hugely influential through his extensive writings and his contacts with people in academia, government and business in the region. He also inspired many students from Southeast Asia and beyond, an impressively large number of whom are now reading figures in their own right. This book of essays, compiled by two of Michael Leifer’s last PhD students, explores and reflects on the key themes of his work on Southeast Asia.

From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century, Christoph Marcinkowski. Pustaka Nasional, 2005

This book traces back the roots of the first Iranian immigrants to Thailand whose descendants – among them the Bunnag family which features a Buddhist as well as a Shi’ite Muslim branch – continue to enjoy social prestige and influence in the kingdom today. Utilizing parts of a unique 17th-century Persian travel account written by the secretary of an Iranian mission to Siam and other works by European explorers, Marcinkowski unfolds the influences and impacts resulting from extensive diplomatic as well as cultural Iranian-Siamese contacts and the visible effects in present-day Thailand. From their imperial capital Isfahan, the shahs of Iran’s Shi’ite Safavid dynasty (r. 1501-1722) encouraged contacts with the non-Muslim world. This curiosity was shared by the Siamese king Narai the Great (r. 1656-88). His tolerant rule encouraged merchants from Europe and various Asian countries to settle down at his flourishing royal capital Ayutthaya, which became known among foreign mariners under the Persian epithet Shahr-e N_v, “City of Boats”. From Isfahan to Ayutthaya focuses in particular on the community of Shi’ite Iranian merchants in Siam and the creation of the office of Shaykh of Islam or “head of the Muslim community” which is still extant in the kingdom and known in Thai as chularajmontri. Marcinkowski also briefly touches upon the spread of Islam in the region.

Reviews
“ This is accordingly a fairly brief but nevertheless meaty monograph on an intriguing topic. Dr Marcinkowski deserves praise for bringing it into the light of critical scholarship […] and the Singapore publishers deserve praise for producing an attractive book […].”

Professor emer. Clifford Edmund Bosworth,
Fellow of the British Academy
Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford, UK)


“ Accolades are to be given to Marcinkowski for his work in dealing with what is by no means an ephemeral Iranian-Siamese relationship.”

Dr Walter Strach,
National University of Singapore,
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore)

“ Marcinkowski’s study serves as an excellent introduction to […] this period of history.”

Dr George Lane, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London,
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Cambridge, UK)

Bank Indonesia and the Crisis: An Insider’s View, J. Soedradjad Djiwandono. ISEAS, 2005

This important book is set to be a key document for those interested in Indonesia’s recent economic and political history. There have been many unanswered questions about exactly how the regional currency crisis snowballed into a full-scale banking crisis in Indonesia, coupled with a total loss of credibility within a short time. This record by the official in the midst of the banking crisis, the ex-governor of Bank Indonesia, gives a fuller and intriguing picture of the events, including the actions of President Soeharto, as well as a balanced account of the much criticised interventions by the International Monetary Fund. The author also analyses the lessons for monetary policy to avoid future such crisis.
This is essential reading for economists and Indonesia waches.

Conflict and Terrorism in Southern Thailand, Rohan Gunaratna, Arabinda Acharya, Sabrina Chua. Marshall Cavendish, 2005.

Unlike the Cold War era, regional conflicts today have profound international implications. Enhanced communication – flow of ideas, inexpensive travel, greater mobility of people, unregulated flow of finance, and a saturated arms market – have dramatically increased the globalization of violence. With internal displacement and refugee flows, most armed conflicts assume regional and international dimensions. With time, most become intractable, Therefore, it is imperative to resolve conflict in its formative phase
…

The resolution of the conflict in Thailand rests neither in counter-terrorism nor in counter-insurgency. The right combination of measures – ranging from developing intelligence dominance, carrying out intelligence-led operations, forging a special relationship with Malaysia, co-opting the Muslim elites, and instituting good governance, particularly, farsighted leadership – is critical to manage and terminate the threat.

Regional Security In Southeast Asia Beyond the ASEAN Way, Mely Caballero-Anthony. ISEAS, 2005

The book examines ASEAN’s mechanisms in managing challenges and threats to regional security. Its extensive analyses of the ASEAN story of managing regional security cover the different phases of ASEAN’s development as a regional organization and explore the perceptible changes that have occurred in regional mechanisms of conflict management. The book also examines the roles of relevant actors beyond the states of ASEAN and the key interactions that have evolved over time which have been instrumental in moving regional mechanisms beyond the ASEAN way.

The book argues that the ASEAN way has not been impervious to change. As the association finds its way through periods of crises and continues to confront the many challenges ahead, ASEAN and its mechanisms are already being transformed beyond the narrow confines of the modalities associated with the ASEAN way. The changes in the political and security landscape of the region, as well as the democratic transitions taking place in some member states, have set the stage for a much more dynamic set of regional actors and processes that bring into question the kind of regionalism that is now taking place in the region. This book therefore attempts to capture these evolving dynamics and examines the way regionalism is changing in Southeast Asia.

Religion and Politics in Iraq. Shi‘ite Clerics between Quietism and Resistance, Christoph Marcinkowski. Pustaka Nasional, 2004

Religion and Politics in Iraq recounts the major steps in the relationship between the various Sunnite-dominated governments on the one hand and Shi’ite leadership and population on the other in what is now Iraq, from the late Ottoman period until the end of the rule of Saddam Husayn. From the end of the 19th century, Iraq, witnessed the Ottomans, the installation of a foreign-backed monarchy, as well as several brands of republican regimes.

The main thesis of this book is that Iraqi Twelver Shi’ism – the dominant denomination in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Bahrain, with large minorities in several other Arab Gulf countries and on the Indian subcontinent – is essentially quietist and politically non-assertive. For centuries, it had been dominated by its clerics, based on the seminaries at the country’s Shi’ite shrine cities. It had been the brutality of the Baath regime and – from the perspective of classical Shi’ite thought - deviant interpretations of the nature of the relations between the state and religion in neighbouring Iran that had led to a radicalization of segments of the Iraqi Shi’ite “lay” people. This has resulted in the erosion of traditional Shi’ite leadership in the aftermath of the 2003 liberation of the country. The author argues that it would be crucial for the seminaries and scholars at Najaf to reassert their authority over the faithful in order to achieve some degree of future political stability for Iraq.

As classical Shi’ite Islamic thought does not ascribe to any particular political system or “theory of government”, quietist Iraqi Shi’ism - within the setting of a secular and multi-denominational political order - could thus become a viable alternative to the “Khomeinist model”, a model that is aiming at political domination of the Middle East by Iran.

Review 
“ The appearance of Dr Marcinkowski’s book […] is […] extremely timely. It provides a concise yet authoritative introduction to the history of political involvement by the Shiite ulama of Iraq and the choices they have made in a succession of turbulent and challenging circumstances. Comprehension of the current situation is, indeed, impossible without some knowledge of this history for virtually every element of what is now underway in Iraq is reminiscent of earlier times: the disruptive effects of foreign occupation,; divergence of opinion and strategy among the Shiite religious leaders; and complex relations with neighbouring Iran and its religious establishment. […] Having established already a solid reputation as an energetic and talented scholar of the history of Shiism in Iran, Dr Marcinkowski is indeed well qualified to venture onto the neighboring territory of Iraq. He is to be commended for having done so and congratulated on the result. ”

Professor Hamid Algar,
Professor of Islamic Studies and Persian,
University of California at Berkeley, United States,
From his foreword to Religion and Politics in Iraq

Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation, National Interest and Regional Order, See Seng Tan and Amitav Acharya (eds.). M.E. Sharpe, 2004

New developments in the Asia-Pacific region call for a review of our current understanding of the security order there. These developments are forcing regional elities to rethink and alter, in varying degrees, the way they manage security issues. Against this backdrop of regional transition, contributors to this volume explore the following: bilateral security cooperation and emerging mutlilateral structures; factors needed to develop complementary relationships between states; and why some forms of security cooperation and institutionalization in the Asia-Pacific have proved more feasible than others. The first section of the book provides an overview of evolving security approaches in the Asia-Pacific region. Part II of the book represents country-based perspectives on how nine nations in the region have evolved in their thinking and approach to security management from the Cold War to the present, including their responses to nontraditional security challenges such as terrorism.