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Pacific Affairs Vol. 80, No. 1 SPRING 2007 PAGE East Asian Environmental Co-operation: Central Pessimism, Local Optimism Sangbum Shin 9 Building Peace or Following the Leader? Japan’s Peace Consolidation Diplomacy Julie Gilson 27 Informed Consent and Mining Projects: A View from Papua New Guinea Martha Macintyre 49 An Incomplete Arc: Analyzing the Potential for Violent Conflict in the Republic Abby McLeod and of Vanuatu Michael Morgan 67 Book Reviews (listed on pp. 4-6) 87 Copyright © 2007, University of British Columbia ISSN 0030-851X Publications Mail Registration No. 07775 GST No. R108161779 PRINTED IN CANADA Recycled Paper 1 Papier Recyclé Pacific Affairs: Volume 80, No. 1 – Spring 2007 ABSTRACTS The East Asian Environmental Cooperation: Central Pessimism, Local Optimism Sangbum Shin This paper examines the regional environmental co-operation in East Asia at the local government level, focusing on the intercity environmental co-operation be- tween the two cities in Japan and China—Kitakyushu and Dalian—as a case. Theo- retically, this case demonstrates the dynamic nature of local government level envi- ronmental co-operation in the sense that all the three levels—government, local government, and private—are closely interconnected, and the major actors—the central government, the local government, and private actors like NGOs and/or firms—play a role in shaping the outcome of intercity co-operation. Also, in terms of policy implication, this case is important not just for East Asian but also global envi- ronmental politics because it is the co-operation between cities in China and Ja- pan—the two most important countries in East Asia that affect regional and global environmental protections efforts seriously. In order to investigate the reasons of success, and the dynamic nature of intercity environmental co-operation, this paper suggests a framework for analysis on the relationship between multiple dimensions of regional environmental co-operation, and then, examines the historical process and the details of the case and explains why this case has been remarkably successful and produced significant outcome. Finally, it draws some theoretical as well as policy implications of this case in terms of possibilities for and limitations of East Asian regional environmental cooperation in the future. Building Peace or Following the Leader? Japan’s Peace Consolidation Diplomacy Julie Gilson In Japan, debates about the nature of peacekeeping contributions continue along- side questions regarding the relevance of Japan’s constitution in the twenty-first cen- tury and the political implications of aid disbursement. This article seeks to illustrate how both Official Development Assistance and peacekeeping operations are being linked through Japan’s “peace consolidation diplomacy.” For historical reasons, the Japanese government has been unable to play a traditional peacekeeping role. At the same time, Japan’s position as leading aid donor has received negative feedback from a recession-bound populous that now views key recipient countries as competi- tors rather than needy neighbours. As a result, issues pertaining to humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping and aid provision frequently overlap, as Japan searches for a means of playing a constructive international role commensurate with the ex- pectations of the rest of the world and with Japan’s own claim for a place on the permanent UN Security Council. This article examines Japanese debates surround- ing the sending of military personnel to crisis areas and the changing provision of aid, against a background of changing concepts of humanitarian intervention, peace- keeping and assistance. It illustrates how the Japanese government utilizes a com- bined narrative of peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention and aid giving, in or- der simultaneously to soften the public response to sending peacekeepers and to respond to increasingly targeted international demands for a more substantial Japa- nese contribution to conflict resolution. 2 Informed Consent and Mining Projects: A View from Papua New Guinea Martha Macintyre Free, prior and informed consent is increasingly perceived as a means of ensuring that people’s human rights are respected and their interests protected. This paper explores issues arising in the context of gaining informed consent about mining projects from people who are citizens of a developing nation. Assumptions about rights, processes of negotiation, scientific knowledge and environmental degrada- tion are often alien to the local people involved. Drawing on anthropological re- search in Papua New Guinea, the complex interactions between understandings of scientists, environmentalists, corporation managers and indigenous people are ex- amined. The pragmatic problems of ensuring that informed consent is gained and that the human rights of local people are equitably protected are explored and some tentative solutions offered. An Incomplete Arc: Analyzing the Potential for Violent Conflict in the Republic of Vanuatu Abby McLeod and Michael G. Morgan This paper seeks to analyze the potential for violent conflict in the Republic of Vanuatu, a small island state in the South West Pacific. It examines the likelihood of state level conflict and investigates local factors which might contribute to state destabilization. It seeks to redress the relative absence of Pacific conflicts from the international discourse on conflict and conflict prevention. We argue that while Vanuatu possesses indicators of potential conflict, when violent conflicts have arisen in Vanuatu they have remained small scale and rapidly con- tained. In exploring this phenomenon, the paper charts factors such as formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms, ethnic diversity, the availability of small arms and the incidence of violent crime. However, we note that strategies aimed at preventing the outbreak of violence may potentially create policy conflicts with other areas. In particular, we look at the effects of indigenous dispute resolution strategies on gender empowerment, one of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals and a central premise of Australian Official Development Assistance to Vanuatu. 3 Pacific Affairs: Volume 80, No. 1 – Spring 2007 Asia General BUSH AND ASIA: America’s Evolving Relations with East Asia. Edited by Mark Beeson. Paul Bowles 87 ASIAN SECURITY REASSESSED. Edited by Stephen Hoadley and Jürgen Rüland. Thomas Stow Wilkins 88 China and Inner Asia CHINA’S LONGEST CAMPAIGN: Birth Planning in the People’s Republic, 1949-2005. By Tyrene White. Malcolm Thompson 90 CONFLICT AND INNOVATION: Joint Ventures in China. Edited by Leo Douw and Chan Kwok-bun. Nicholas C. Howson 91 POLITICAL CIVILIZATION AND MODERNIZATION IN CHINA: The Political Context of China’s Transformation. Edited by Yang Zhong and Shiping Hua. Cheng Chen 93 DEBATING POLITICAL REFORM IN CHINA: Rule of Law vs. Democratization. Edited by Suisheng Zhao. Suzanne Ogden 94 DOING FIELDWORK IN CHINA. Edited by Maria Heimer and Stig Thorgersen. Amy Hanser 96 THE CHINESE SULTANATE: Islam, Ethnicity, and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwest China, 1856-1873. By David G. Atwill. Beth E. Notar 98 PRECIOUS STEPPE: Mongolian Nomadic Pastoralists in Pursuit of the Market. By Ole Bruun. David Sneath 99 Northeast Asia JAPAN’S RELATIONS WITH CHINA: Facing a Rising Power. Edited by Peng Er Lam. Peter Van Ness 101 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN JAPAN. Edited by Hidefumi Imura and Miranda A. Schreurs. Hiroshi Ohta 102 JAPAN REMODELED: How Government and Industry are Reforming Japanese Capitalism. By Steven K. Vogel. Gregory Jackson 103 JAPAN AFTER JAPAN: Social and Cultural Life from the Recessionary 1990s to the Present. Edited by Tomiko Yoda and Harry Harootunian. Florian Coulmas 105 PERSPECTIVES ON WORK, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIETY IN JAPAN. By Peter Matanle and Wim Lunsing. George Olcott 106 JAPAN’S DUAL CIVIL SOCIETY: Members Without Advocates. By Robert Pekkanen. Lynne Y. Nakano 108 JAPAN’S AGRICULTURAL POLICY REGIME. By Aurelia George Mulgan. Kyoko Sato 109 4 JAPANESE EDUCATION AND THE CRAM SCHOOL BUSINESS: Functions, Challenges and Perspectives of the Juku. By Marie Hojlund Roesgaard. Mamoru Tsukada 111 SHINKANSEN: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan. By Christopher P. Hood. Loren Siebert 112 SUICIDAL HONOR: General Nogi and the Writings of Mori Ogai and Natsume Soseki. By Doris G. Bargen. Harald Salomon 114 KIM IL SUNG IN THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953-1964. By Balázs Szalontai. Kathryn Weathersby 115 South Asia INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT IN SOUTH ASIA. Edited by Paula Banerjee, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury and Samir Kumar Das. Alan B. Anderson 116 TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY. Edited by Meenakshi Thapan. Linda K. Richter 119 INDIA’S NEW MIDDLE CLASS: Democratic Politics in an Era of Economic Reform. By Leela Fernandes. James Matson 120 MINORITIES AND POLICE IN INDIA. Edited by Asghar Ali Engineer and Amarjit S. Narang. Ian Talbot 122 Southeast Asia THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN SOUTHEAST ASIA: A New History. By Norman G. Owen. Katharine McGregor 123 MYANMAR’S FOREIGN POLICY: Domestic Influences and International Implications. By Jurgen Haacke. Josef Silverstein 125 THE KING NEVER SMILES: A Biography of Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej. By Paul M. Handley. James Ockey 126 THE WAY THAT LIVES IN THE HEART: Chinese Popular Religion and Spirit Mediums in Penang, Malaysia. By Jean DeBernardi. Vineeta Sinha 128 A HISTORY OF MODERN INDONESIA. By Adrian Vickers.