{"title":"The Ukrainian Gas Crisis Revisited","authors":"N. Sokov","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.693.348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.693.348","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124989416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vietnam's Bumpy Road to Reform","authors":"Sophie Quinn-Judge","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.284","url":null,"abstract":"The economic reforms carried out in socialist Vietnam since 1986 have made it a favorite of multilateral lenders and development agencies. The movement away from a planned, state-controlled economy has brought this once impoverished, war-torn country economic growth rates close to those of China. At the same time, the government has implemented a poverty-reduction program that has made real strides in reducing the gap between the newly rich and the poor. Two decades ago Hanoi was a crumbling French colonial city, with a few drab socialist apartment buildings on its fringes. Now it is spreading far beyond its old limits. From the top of one of the upscale high-rise hotels in central Hanoi, one can look out over the red-tiled rooftops of the old city, to the Red River and beyond, where middle-class housing developments are sprouting up in the suburban rice paddies, nearby to new factories constructed by Japanese firms. Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon and now often called just “the City,” has returned to its vibrant, chaotic self. Its streets are so choked with motorbikes that some city planners have considered banning them, though no one in the city’s leadership seems willing to risk such a radical and potentially unpopular move. As in China, political and intellectual reform in Vietnam has lagged behind the stunning transformation of the economy. It is true that greater contact with the outside world, Internet access, and the government’s growing self-assurance have brought a more relaxed attitude toward once-taboo authors and Western cultural ways, especially in dress and music. Foreigners now travel freely to most parts of the country. Yet there remains a sharp distinction between the two kinds of reform. Economic reform enjoys broad-based support and now feels irreversible. Its progress can be measured by hard data, and it is benefiting the whole population, from party cadres to street vendors. Political reform, in contrast, remains ambiguous and hard to evaluate, without clear boundaries or guarantees of individual rights. Talk of democratization here usually refers to the opening up of the Communist Party’s structures. Although the National Assembly now plays a more visible role in debating legislation, it is elected from carefully pre-selected candidates, most of whom are party members. The rights guaranteed by Vietnam’s 1992 constitution are consistent with modern democratic practice, but they can be overruled if individual actions are judged to have damaged the party. Vietnamese intellectuals say that this situation has led to an impasse in which new, unconventional ideas are stifled by pressure to conform to the status quo. As the country looks to the future after its tenth party congress in June 2006, there is considerable uncertainty about what the next phase of reform will look like.","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"125 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124605209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Withering of Philippine Democracy","authors":"P. Abinales, Donna J. Amoroso","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.290","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.290","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132920147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"China's Charm Offensive in Southeast Asia","authors":"Joshua Kurlantzick","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.270","url":null,"abstract":"In November 2000, Jiang Zemin made his first visit to Cambodia. Arriving at the airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, the owlish and normally stiff Chinese leader offered a brief greeting to his Cambodian hosts. He was whisked into a motorcade that rumbled through the streets, avoiding the cavernous ruts that dotted Sihanouk Boulevard. Most mornings, activity in Phnom Penh all but stops when the morning heat begins to rise. But on that day, the city resembled a festive papal visit to a devoutly Catholic nation. Nearly a hundred thousand Cambodian children lined the streets, many in threadbare school uniforms and waving tiny Cambodian and Chinese flags or small photographs of Jiang’s face. The children cheered and screamed for Jiang as his open car toured through the city, chanting as if he were David Beckham or Bono, rather than an elderly politician with thick glasses and an oily, swept-back hairdo. Jiang’s route did not take him past one of the city’s major attractions. Only a few blocks from his motorcade, foreign tourists wandered through Tuol Sleng, an old high school that Cambodia’s Maoist Khmer Rouge regime had converted into a killing factory in the 1970s. Tens of thousands of Cambodians were brought to Tuol Sleng between 1975 and 1979. Fewer than 10 made it out alive. During the Khmer Rouge’s murderous four-year reign, during which they killed as many as 2 million Cambodians, China served as the regime’s major foreign patron. Beijing sent the Khmer Rouge over 15,000 military advisers and provided the bulk of its external aid. Beijing knew what was going on in Cambodia. Before Jiang’s visit, Chinese leaders had actively worked to forestall a special international tribunal for the Khmer Rouge officials still alive. But standing alongside Jiang that day, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen did not mention the Khmer Rouge era or the tribunal. Instead, he praised Jiang’s “historic” visit to Phnom Penh and called China’s relations with Cambodia “a precious gift.” A beaming Jiang replied that he was “overwhelmed by friendship and joy” and promised that the relationship would become much closer. Jiang was right. Within five years, China had become probably the most important foreign influence in Cambodia, and Hun Sen shuttled to and from Beijing constantly. Beijing became Cambodia’s major provider of foreign aid, giving Cambodia one of the largest Chinese aid packages of any nation in the world while also forgiving Cambodia’s entire debt to China. Chinese language programs quickly dominated downtown Phnom Penh: one Chineselanguage school alone drew over 10,000 students. As a result, although older Cambodians who remember the Khmer Rouge remain suspicious of China, their sons and daughters, who once would have headed to Australia, France, or the United States for higher education, now look to universities in Shanghai and Beijing. Chinese newspapers, films, television, and radio have become increasingly popular. Thousands of Chinese businesspeop","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127926108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Japan's Historic Change of Course","authors":"K. Pyle","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.692.277","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130879422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"India and the Asian Security Architecture","authors":"V. Sahni","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.163","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122923597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fueling the Dragon: China’s Strategic Energy Dilemma","authors":"M. Klare","doi":"10.1057/9780230622685_9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230622685_9","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"256 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115952676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Curbing Asian Corruption: An Impossible Dream?","authors":"Jon T. S. Quah","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.176","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.176","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"80 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131689624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Koreas, Unification, and the Great Powers","authors":"J. A. Kim","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.186","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116772061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"American Confronts the Asian Century","authors":"Stephen Bosworth, M. Abramowitz","doi":"10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/CURH.2006.105.690.147","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":420930,"journal":{"name":"Current history: A journal of contemporary world affairs","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125507686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}