Pacific Asia

Pacific Asia, from Burma to Papua New Guinea to Japan, is a new name for a region which no longer looks to the West for geographical definition. It is the most dynamic and productive region in the developing world, the result of an economic explosion fueled by the industrial activity of the "four little tigers" of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Pacific Asia is where the Green Revolution began, where there are more women in factory work than anywhere else, and where socialism predominates more than in any other region of the Third World. In this invaluable introduction, the author, who has lived and worked in developing countries for twenty years, reviews the historical development of Pacific Asia and considers its present position in a global perspective. Drakakis-Smith provides a comprehensive review of the principal issues (resources, urbanization, ethnicity, population, gender, rural development and industrialization) facing the developing countries in this region, and places themin the local context in which they must be examined before successful policy responses can be made.