Financing Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific

Financing Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific
Author: Naoyuki Yoshino
Publisher:
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2017-08-30
Genre: Infrastructure (Economics)
ISBN: 9784899740711

Governments throughout the Asia-Pacific region recognize the catalyzing role of infrastructure investment for sustainable growth. Yet, they are faced with the problem of financing new infrastructure. This book provides the latest evidence on the impact of infrastructure investment on economic and social indicators. Presenting several country studies, the book explains how infrastructure investment can increase output, taxes, trade, and firm productivity. Based on this evidence, the book proposes innovative modes of infrastructure financing. Written by leading international experts in economic analysis of infrastructure, the book is an invaluable source for policy makers to better design infrastructure projects.

Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia

Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia
Author: Tina Burrett
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2019-11-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0429013035

This book analyzes the constraints on press freedom and the ways in which independent reporting and reporters are at risk in contemporary Asia to provide a barometer of democratic development in the region. Based on in-depth country case studies written by academics and journalists, and some who straddle both professions, from across the region, this book explores the roles of mainstream and online media, and how they are subject to abuse by the state and vested interests. Specific country chapters provide up-to-date information on Bangladesh, Kashmir, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as on growing populist and nationalist challenges to media freedom in the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Japan. The book includes a theoretical chapter pulling together trends and common constraints facing newsrooms across Asia and a regional overview on the impact of social media. Three chapters on China provide insights into the country’s tightening information environment under President Xi Jinping. Moreover, the legal environment of the media, political and external pressures, economic considerations, audience support and journalists’ standards and ethics are explored. As an international and interdisciplinary study, this book will appeal to undergraduates, graduates and scholars engaged in human rights, media studies, democratization, authoritarianism and Asian Studies, as well as Asia specialists, journalists, legal scholars, historians and political scientists.

The Rise, the Fall, and the Recovery of Southeast Asia's Minidragons

The Rise, the Fall, and the Recovery of Southeast Asia's Minidragons
Author: David Hollingsworth
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780739119822

The theme of the book is how a right set of policies can govern a country's well being from an economic standpoint and the vision it takes to propel a country to new heights. The scope of the book is not just development, but how the development was undone by policies and actions that were not governed by that vision.

Asia’s New Geopolitics

Asia’s New Geopolitics
Author: Desmond Ball
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000536270

Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and the proliferation of the latest military technology across Asia suggest that the region is set for a prolonged period of strategic contestation. None of the three competing visions for the future of Asian order – a US-led ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, a Chinese-centred order, or the ASEAN-inspired ‘Indo-Pacific Outlook’ – is likely to prevail in the short to medium term. In the absence of a new framework, the risk of open conflict is heightened, and along with it the need for effective mechanisms to maintain peace and stability. As Asia’s leaders seek to rebuild their economies and societies in the wake of COVID-19, they would do well to reflect upon the lessons offered by the pandemic and their applicability in the strategic realm. The societies that have navigated the crisis most effectively have been able to do so by putting in place stringent protective measures. Crisis-management and -avoidance mechanisms – and even, in the longer term, wider arms control – can be seen as the strategic equivalent of such measures, and as such they should be pursued with urgency in Asia to reduce the risks of an even greater calamity.

Fake News and Elections in Southeast Asia

Fake News and Elections in Southeast Asia
Author: James Gomez
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2022-12-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000820564

This book offers a regional analysis of the impact of fake news – misinformation, malinformation and disinformation – on electoral democracy and freedom of expression in Southeast Asia, which has taken place in the middle of a global health pandemic. The book maps the impact of social media and the internet on democracy in the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that have already been in the throes of democratic regression for some time. Including an analysis of countries that do not have national elections, the chapters provide detailed information on the extent of internet and social media penetration in each country, the laws that are deployed to reel in its political potential for critics and demonstrate the impact on democracy or the prospects for democracy. Collectively, contributors note that disinformation is a serious problem in the region that negatively impacts elections and how governments’ attempts to deal with the phenomenon inevitably lead to the targeting of dissenting voices and opposition as anti-state fake news. The deleterious impact on democracy and freedom of expression, facilitated by a citizenry that is prone to manipulation of facts, appears to be the standard modus operandi in the regional authoritarian complex. This book is the first to undertake a regional analysis of disinformation in Southeast Asia and is a significant contribution to the literature on democracy, elections and disinformation. It will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Political Science and Asian Politics, in particular Southeast Asian Politics.

Asia's New Battlefield

Asia's New Battlefield
Author: Richard Javad Heydarian
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2015-11-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1783603151

This compact, insightful book offers an up-to-the-minute guide to understanding the evolution of maritime territorial disputes in East Asia, exploring their legal, political-security and economic dimensions against the backdrop of a brewing Sino-American rivalry for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. It traces the decades-long evolution of Sino-American relations in Asia, and how this pivotal relationship has been central to prosperity and stability in one of the most dynamics regions of the world. It also looks at how middle powers – from Japan and Australia to India and South Korea – have joined the fray, trying to shape the trajectory of the territorial disputes in the Western Pacific, which can, in turn, alter the future of Asia – and ignite an international war that could re-configure the global order. The book examines how the maritime disputes have become a litmus test of China’s rise, whether it has and will be peaceful or not, and how smaller powers such as Vietnam and the Philippines have been resisting Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Drawing on extensive discussions and interviews with experts and policy-makers across the Asia-Pacific region, the book highlights the growing geopolitical significance of the East and South China Sea disputes to the future of Asia – providing insights into how the so-called Pacific century will shape up.

The Rise of 24-hour News Television

The Rise of 24-hour News Television
Author: Stephen Cushion
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2010
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781433107764

"De-westernising journalism studies in an intelligent way, this book deserves to be read around the world."---Professor James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom --