This volume is designed to place in context the passionate controversies and emotional attachments of the two billion people who live, study, work, love, and die in the Middle East and South Asia.

This book explores a range of key issues connected to China’s relations with countries in the Middle East and South Asia. It discusses economic and political connections, and projects which have arisen as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It covers both important countries in the Middle East, and also Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It examines current contentious issues including Iranian sanctions and the war in Syria, and assesses the roles of other powers such as Russia, Turkey and Israel insofar as they affect China’s relationships. Overall, the book presents many new perspectives on the subject, with many of the perspectives representing the view from the countries of the Middle East and South Asia.

This book investigates the theme of global transitions with a cross-regional comparative study of two areas experiencing change over the past three decades: Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Political transitions in Asia have been the subject of interest in academic and policy-making communities recently as there are encouraging signs of democratization in countries that exhibit elements of authoritarianism. In those countries with relatively open political systems, transitions to democracy have been complete – albeit messy, flawed, and highly contested. In contrast, countries of the MENA region that have been gripped by revolts in recent years find themselves in the midst of chaotic and uncontrollable transitions. Why are there such differences between these regions? What, if anything, can be learned and applied from the transitions in Southeast Asia? These questions are answered here as Asia’s experience is contrasted with the Arab revolts and the struggle of the different countries in the MENA region to fashion a new social contract between states and citizens.

European countries are dealing with an increasing number of refugees seeking asylum. Country evidence is critical in the assessment of any asylum claim. The purpose of this study is to review some of the common issues which frequently are the focus of asylum appeal cases in relation to applicants from South Asia and the Middle East. The focus is on Pakistan, Iraq and Iran and it covers a range of issues that give rise to asylum claims, such as the general security situation, the risk from terrorism and other forms of political violence, the risk to political opponents of governments, the risks in blood feuds and from the perceived violation of family honour, religious persecution and the risks faced by ethnic minorities. It is a very useful resource to volunteers and professionals involved in supporting asylum seekers.

Contemporary concerns with the way the movement of Islamist ideas has radicalized Southeast Asia are put in a necessary deep historical context by this timely book. The fourteen authors represent the best of the new trilingual scholarship doing justice to both Arabic and Indonesian sources. They reach back to the seventh century to explain how trade brought the two crossroads of Eurasia together, and Islam provided the passion and the idiom for their subsequent complex interactions. There are no centers and peripheries in this sophisticated interpretation of how waves of reform have affected both homelands. Such relationships contribute to regional and global events in many crucial ways, and this volume is important for anyone interested in the future of Asia and the Middle East.

Strategic health planning, the cornerstone of initiatives designed to achieve health improvement goals around the world, requires an understanding of the comparative burden of diseases and injuries, their corresponding risk factors and the likely effects of invervention options. The Global Burden of Disease framework, originally published in 1990, has been widely adopted as the preferred method for health accounting and has become the standard to guide the setting of health research priorities. This publication sets out an updated assessment of the situation, with an analysis of trends observed since 1990 and a chapter on the sensitivity of GBD estimates to various sources of uncertainty in methods and data.

The critical importance of past for the present--of music histories in local and global forms--asserts itself. The history of world music, as each chapter makes clear, is one of critical moments and paradigm shifts.

Distinguished experts explain the economic trends and varied political goals at work in Southeast Asia. With China’s emergence as a powerful entity in Southeast Asia, the region has become an unlikely site of conflict between two of the world’s great powers. The United States, historically regarded as the protector of Pacific Southeast Asia—consisting of nations such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia—is now called upon to respond to what many would consider bullying on the part of the Chinese. These and other countries have become the economic and political engine of China. While certainly inclined to help the country’s former allies, the United States has grown undeniably closer to China in the recent decades of global interconnected economic growth. China, the United States, and the Future of Southeast Asia uncovers and delves into the complicated dynamics of this situation. Covering topics such as the controversial response to human rights violations, the effects of global economic interconnectedness, and contested sovereignty over resource-rich islands, this volume provides a modern and nuanced perspective on the state of the region. For anyone interested in understanding the evolving global balance of power, China, the United States, and the Future of Southeast Asia illuminates how countries as different as Thailand and Indonesia see the growing competition between Beijing and Washington.