East-West Center (Washington, D.C.). Policy Studies

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Policy Studies presents scholarly analysis of key contemporary domestic and international political, economic, and strategic issues affecting Asia in a policy relevant manner. Written for the policy community, academics, journalists, and the informed public, the peer-reviewed publications in this series provide new policy insights and perspectives based on extensive fieldwork and rigorous scholarship.

The East-West Center ScholarSpace community contains digital versions of just some of the several thousand books, periodicals, and unpublished papers generated by the Center over the past 50 years. Find a complete list of recent East-West Center publications and learn how to obtain them at EastWestCenter.org/publications . Search for recent and older works from 1960 - present using the Center's library catalog at EastWestCenter.org/riscatalog.

Browsing East-West Center (Washington, D.C.). Policy Studies by Title

Now showing items 1-20 of 51

The Aceh peace process : why it failed

Aspinall, Edward; Crouch, Harold A. (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2003)

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the history and dynamics of Aceh's abortive peace process conducted between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government. After surveying the origins and progress ...
Autonomy in Xinjiang : Han nationalist imperatives and Uyghur discontent

Bovingdon, Gardner (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2004)

This paper analyzes the sources of Uyghur discontent and ethnonational conflict in Xinjiang since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It argues that the episodes of unrest in Xinjiang have not been ...
Beijing's Tibet policy : securing sovereignty and legitimacy

Carlson, Allen (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2004)

This paper examines the main contours of Beijing's Tibet policy since the start of the reform era (1979 to the present). It argues that throughout this period China's position on Tibet has always been concerned with defending ...
Benevolent benefactor or insensitive regulator? : tracing the role of government policies in the development of India's automobile industry

Tiwari, Rajnish; Herstatt, Cornelius; Ranawat, Mahipat (Honolulu, HI : East-West Center, 2011)

The impressive and sustained growth of India's automobile industry in recent years has catapulted it into the league of the world's top-seven producers of four-wheelers. In the past decade, its exports have surged more ...
Beyond armed resistance : ethnonational politics in Burma (Myanmar)

Thawnghmung, Ardeth Maung (Honolulu : East-West Center, 2011)

This paper sheds light on the activities of non-armed members of ethnic minorities in Burma, insufficiently studied actors in the conventional study of ethnic politics in Burma that has long been dominated by a focus on ...
China's rise : implications for U.S. leadership in Asia

Sutter, Robert G. (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2006)

This study argues that overt U.S. competition with China for influence in Asia is unwelcome, counterproductive for U.S. interests, and unwarranted given the limited challenge posed by China’s rise. U.S. policymakers should ...
Civil society in uncivil places : soft state and regime change in Nepal

Shah, Saubhagya (Honolulu: East-West Center, 2008)

Summary: This monograph analyzes the role of civil society in the massive political mobilization and upheavals of 2006 in Nepal that swept away King Gyanendra's direct rule and dramatically altered the structure and character ...
Conflict and peace in India's northeast : the role of civil society

Das, Samir Kumar (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2007)

This monograph examines the role of civil society groups in peace building in three conflict regions in India's Northeast—Assam, Naga Hills/Nagaland, and Mizo Hills/Mizoram. These political conflicts are complex with each ...
Constructing Papuan nationalism : history, ethnicity, and adaptation

Chauvel, Richard (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2004)

Papuan nationalism is stronger today than it was in 1961, when the Morning Star flag was first raised. Its evolution as a political force is a crucial factor in any analysis of relations between the Indonesian government ...
Counterterrorism legislation in Sri Lanka : evaluating efficacy

Manoharan, N. (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2006)

This study investigates the efficacy of counterterrorism laws in democracies by taking the highly pertinent case of Sri Lanka as an example. It compares the use of counterterrorism laws by the Sri Lankan state against two ...
Creating a "new Nepal" : the ethnic dimension

Hangen, Susan (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2007)

This study explores the ethnic dimension of the challenges that Nepal currently faces. Although Nepal has made substantial progress toward regaining political stability since April 2006, ethnic conflict has become a major ...
Economic reforms, regionalism, and exports : comparing China and India

Wignaraja, Ganeshan (Honolulu : East-West Center, 2011)

This paper undertakes a comparative empirical assessment of economic reforms and exports in the rising Asian giants, China and India. It explores the past record and future challenges. In recent years, China has surged ...
Economy of the conflict region in Sri Lanka : from embargo to repression

Sarvananthan, Muttukrishna (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center in Washington, 2007)

This monograph examines the nature, extent, and causes of economic and social decline in Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern Provinces—a region that has endured civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation ...
Engaging North Korea : the role of economic statecraft

Haggard, Stephan; Noland, Marcus (Honolulu, HI : East-West Center, 2011)

This monograph reviews the efficacy of economic statecraft vis-à-vis North Korea, with a particular focus on the use of sanctions and inducements on the part of the United States in seeking to achieve nonproliferation and ...
Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka : changing dynamics

Uyangoda, Jayadeva (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2007)

Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict has become protracted and intractable. The twenty-five-year-old civil war has been interrupted numerous times for a negotiated peace and political settlement, yet the conflict has defied ...
Ethno-diplomacy : the Uyghur hitch in Sino-Turkish relations

Shichor, Yitzhak (2009)

Beginning in 1949, China responded to so-called Uyghur separatism and the quest for Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) independence as a domestic problem. Since the mid-1990s, however, when it became aware of the international ...
Executive accountability in Southeast Asia : the role of legislatures in new democracies and under electoral authoritarianism

Case, William (Honolulu, HI : East-West Center, 2011)

In an influential study, Fish and Kroenig argue that "overarching institutional designs" (i.e., presidential, parliamentary, and dual systems) tell us less about the prospects of a new democracy than does the particular ...
Forging sustainable peace in Mindanao : the role of civil society

Rood, Steven (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2005)

This study investigates the role of civil society in forging sustainable peace in Mindanao. It argues that civil society groups have the potential to make significant contributions to the management of the separatist ...
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) : anatomy of a separatist organization

Schulze, Kirsten E. (Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2004)

The province of Aceh is located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in the Indonesian archipelago. Since 1976 it has been wracked by conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka; GAM), which is ...
Global economic crisis and its implications for Asian economic cooperation

Plummer, Michael G. (Honolulu, HI: East-West Center, 2009)

The economic crisis of 2008–09 has had a highly damaging effect on Asian economies. While it appears in the second half of 2009 that the worst of the crisis is over, expectations are that the region will revert to its ...