Understanding Australia's Neighbours : An Introduction to East and Southeast Asia

Understanding Australia's Neighbours is a comprehensive introduction to the study of Asia. Written thematically, it provides comparisons between Asian and Australian societies and encourages readers to think about Australia's neighbours across a wide range of social, economic and historical contexts.

Topics covered include:

• The nature of tradition and modernity

• Change to the family and religion

• The role of colonialism and nationalism in political change

• Nation-building

• Economic development

• International politics

• Globalisation

• Democracy and human rights.

Fully revised and updated, it covers the region's response to the global financial crisis, war on terror and climate change. It features a brand new chapter on the rise of China, its changing dynamic with Japan and the US and what this means for the broader region and Australia. Written in an accessible and informative way, this is a book for all Australians who seek a better understanding of Australia's neighbours in East and Southeast Asia.

Features:

• Fully revised and updated, including a new chapter on the rise of China as a global and regional power

• Adopts a thematic approach and based on wide research in the social sciences, history and economics

• Written by leading experts in the study of East and Southeast Asia

About the Authors

Professor Nick Knight, now retired, has written extensively on the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is Australia's foremost authority on the thought of Mao Zedong. His research has emphasized the period of the 1920s and 1930s, but includes analysis of the way in which Mao's thought has been interpreted and deployed politically in the post-Mao period.

Dr Michael Heazle is an Associate Professor with the Griffith Asia Institute and Department of International Business and Asian Studies where he teaches international relations and politics. Prior to his return to Australia in 2003, Dr Heazle taught a variety of subjects in the faculties of Economics and Business Administration at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.