HONOLULU (March 7) — The infant years of the twenty-first century have seen a rapid acceleration in economic growth and political power in the Asia Pacific region. Mark Borthwick, director of the U.S. Asia Pacific Council at East-West Center Washington, takes an intelligent and at times entertaining look at the region in the recently published third edition of his seminal work Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia (Paperback, $55, published by Westview Press).

The latest edition of Borthwick’s book, according to former senior director of the National Security Council and current University of California, San Diego professor Richard Feinberg, “beautifully interweaves national histories with complex regional and global trends.” Feinberg adds that Borthwick has “intelligently balanced explanations of Asia’s astounding successes with honest recognition of the region’s darker moments.”

Carl J. Shapiro, professor of international finance at Brandeis University, says “As Asia takes center stage in global economics and politics, it deserves an equally prominent place in our teaching and research.” Something he believes Borthwick’s latest work can play a large role in doing. Shapiro says the new edition of Pacific Century offers a new website and accessible segments of, as he puts it, “some of the best writing on Pacific Asia’s history, economies and societies.”

Borthwick has also significantly revised the richly illustrated volume’s introduction placing the contemporary rise of China within the context of political, cultural, and economic evolution of the region since ancient times. New areas also receiving attention in this latest edition include Japan’s new political landscape, the North Korean crisis, and the Asia Pacific impact on the global economic system. Within its pages are also chronological updates for Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Borthwick also looks closely at the key domestic and international issues facing the nations of Pacific Asia and the growing influence of these nations on North American and the world economy.

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Mark Borthwick, director of the U.S. Asia Pacific Council at East-West Center Washington. Inquiries concerning his newly published book can be made to Westview Press at www.perseubooksgroup.com/westview/home.jsp .

The EAST-WEST CENTER is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.

For more information, contact:
John Lewis
Media Relations Specialist
Phone: (808) 944-7204
Email: lewisj@EastWestCenter.org