Now in its new and fully updated third edition, The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific continues to provide a compelling analysis of a region undergoing dramatic changes. Based on new research and offering fresh interpretation, this edition evaluates the prospects for continuing US dominance in the 'Asian Century'. Whilst presenting evidence for a multifaceted 'Beijing Strategy', which aims to counter the US by building an alternative regional order, it also explains Japan's definitive departure from its limited military role. Providing an introductory guide for the main frameworks needed to understand the region, including realism, liberalism and critical theory, this new edition is reader-friendly, and offers sophisticated competing explanations. Key content includes: Intra-regional conflicts in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula, The different responses within the Asia-Pacific to the globalization of Western ideas of democracy and political economy, The underappreciated success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in building a regional identity, The European Union's soft power in the region. A highly topical account, which offers an overview of the main actors, institutions and contemporary issues in the Asia-Pacific, the book will be essential reading for undergraduate students of Asian Studies, International Politics, and anyone interested in the region.

Now in its new and fully updated third edition, The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific continues to provide a compelling analysis of a region undergoing dramatic changes. Based on new research and offering fresh interpretation, this edition evaluates the prospects for continuing US dominance in the 'Asian Century'. Whilst presenting evidence for a multifaceted 'Beijing Strategy', which aims to counter the US by building an alternative regional order, it also explains Japan's definitive departure from its limited military role. Providing an introductory guide for the main frameworks needed to understand the region, including realism, liberalism and critical theory, this new edition is reader-friendly, and offers sophisticated competing explanations. Key content includes: Intra-regional conflicts in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula, The different responses within the Asia-Pacific to the globalization of Western ideas of democracy and political economy, The underappreciated success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in building a regional identity, The European Union's soft power in the region. A highly topical account, which offers an overview of the main actors, institutions and contemporary issues in the Asia-Pacific, the book will be essential reading for undergraduate students of Asian Studies, International Politics, and anyone interested in the region.

With a population of over 500 million and a GDP exceeding $US16 trillion, the European Union (EU) is the world's largest economy. In 1987, the EU commenced implementation of the Single European Market (SEM) program. The objective of the SEM was to remove all internal barriers to trade. It emphasized the centrality of the four freedoms' to the harmonization of the EU economy: free movement of goods, services, labour and capital. The 'four freedoms' have transformed the EU from a customs union to a single market. In 1999, the EU also adopted a single currency, the euro. This book provides an economic and political analysis of the EU Single Market in order to assess its medium-term outcomes across a range of policy areas. The SEM involves a significant restructuring of EU economic and competition policy. The most comprehensive explanations of EU integration have come from international relations and integration theory. This volume focuses upon the key debates between neorealist and neoliberal explanations of EU integration within the framework of the Single Market. This book will be particularly useful to professionals working in the fields of European economics, business and finance.