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Introduction. The Asia Pacific World: A Summary and an Agenda

Introduction. The Asia Pacific World: A Summary and an Agenda

Volume 1,Number 1,Spring 2010 pp. 1-22(22)
Research Article
2010/3/1
Eades, J.S.; Cooper, Malcolm J.M.
At the start of the twenty-first century it was confidently predicted by many that this period would become the 'Asian Century' or the 'Asia Pacific Century.' Now that we are entering its second decade, this prediction still seems on course, despite some dissent (Huang 2009), though the possible meaning of what this might entail has subtly changed. While China's economy continues to grow, suggesting that this could also be termed the 'Chinese Century' (Scott 2008 cf Jacques 2009), there are also new factors in the equation, particularly the rise of India stemming from the economic reforms which took place there during the 1990s (Pike 2010: 651–659, 718–720). These suggest a re-evaluation not only of possible scenarios for the years to come, but even of what we mean by the term 'Asia Pacific.' In this article, we present a brief survey of the main developments which have taken place in the last decade, the changing definition of the Asia Pacific as a region, and the main directions of change suggested by current research.

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