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    ASIA y PACIFICO Licenciatura en Relaciones Internacionales Materia en linea y a distancia Clave 1604 Segundo semestre Estudios Regionales Materia obligatoria 8 créditos Semestre 2009-I Tutora: Rivera Angel Natalia UNIDAD 1. ASIA Y EL PACIFICO: PRECISIONES CONCEPTUALES Lectura 1, Borthwick, Mark; Pacific Century. The Emergency of Modern Pacific Asia. Westview Press, Second Edition, 1988, pp. 1-11 Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismos y Mecanismos de Cooperacién Regional en la Cuenca del Pacifico. UNAM, FCPy8, 2000, pp. 1-16 (Nota: La lectura completa se empleard para la Unidad 7) UNIDAD 2. LAS RAICES RELIGIIOSAS E HISTORICO CULTURALES DEL ASIA Y PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Gonzélez, Torres, Yolott; "Las Religiones en Asia” en Toledo, Daniel (editor); Asia y Africa en la Historia’, México, UAM-1, 1996, pp. 131-150. Lectura 2. Von, Grunebaun G. E; “China el Asia Oriental’, en EI /slam, Tomo ll. Desde fa Caida de Constantinopla hasta nuestros dias. Historia Universal, Mexico, Siglo XXI, 1971, pp. 254-293. Lectura 3. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers, California, 1995, pp. 23-30 UNIDAD 3. ASIA Y EL PACIFICO: PROCESOS Y TRANSFORMACIONES HISTORICAS: DEL ENCUENTRO CON EUROPA AL PRELUDIO DE LA TRANSFORMACION MOFERNA. Lectura 1. Preston, P. W; Pacific Asia in the Global System, Blackwell Publishers, USA, 1998, pp. 54-86. Lectura 2. Bianco Lucien; Asia Contempordnea, (India), Siglo XXI, México, 1987, pp. 5-44, 155-166. Lectura 3. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers, California, 1995, pp, 23-59, 61-101 y 263-311 Lectura 4. Bianco Lucien; Asia Contemporénea, (Japén), Siglo XXI, México, 1987 pp. 45-55 y 238-265. UNIDAD 4. EL NUEVO ENTORNO POLTICO DE LA POSGUERRA EN EL ESCENARIO REGIONAL DEL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers, California, 1995, pp. 103-156. UNIDAD 5. LA REESTRUCTURACION Y EL DESARROLLO ECONOMICO EN EL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Lépez, Villafafie, Victor; La nueva era del capitalismo, Japon y Estados Unidos en la Cuenca del Pacifico, 1945-2000, México, Siglo XXI, 1994, pp. 15-96, Lectura 2. Bekerman, Marta; Sirlin, Pablo; y Streb, Maria Luisa; “El milagro econémico asiatico Corea, Taiwan, Malasia y Tailandia” en Comercio Exterior, Vol. 45, Num. 4, Abril de 1995, pp. 310-318. Lectura 3. Gonzalez, Juan; “Historia econémica de la Republica Popular de China en la posguerra: una perspectiva institucional” en Carlos Uscanga. Asia Pacifico en la Posguerra Espacios de Interaccion Econémica y Politica. México, FCPyS-UNAM, 2001, pp. 45-71. Lectura 4. Comision Econémica para América Latina y el Caribe, CEPAL, Impacto de la crisis asiatica en América Latina, ONU, Santiago de Chile, Mayo, 1998, pp. 5-42 Lectura 5. Cruz, Zamorano, Alma Rosa; "La India: avance tecnolégico y pobreza extrema” en Comercio Exterior, Vol. 55, Nim. 1, Febrero de 2005, pp. 58-66. UNIDAD 6. LOS ESCENARIOS POLITICOS Y DE SEGURIDAD EN EL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Shambaugh, David; “Sera China una superpotencia militar? En Vanguardia Dossier, Barcelona, Num. 2, julio-septiembre, 2002, pp. 34-39. Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; “Desarrollo Econémico y Problemas Geoestratégicos en Asia Pacifico” en Bonilla, Arturo y Sotomayor Margot, Conflicto geoestratégico y armamentismo en la posguerra fria, México, UNAM, HEc, El Caballito, 1999, pp. 89-129. Lectura 3. Leén, Jose Luis; “De las pasiones a los intereses, Corea del Norte y las potencias regionales en el Este Asidtico” en Leén, Jose Luis; Estrada, Jose Luis y Turner Ernesto (coordinadores); Cooperacién y contflicto en la Cuenca del Pacifico, México, Camara de Diputados, UAM Unidad Iztapalapa, Miguel Angel Porrita, 2005, pp. 331-360. UNIDAD 7. REGIONALIZACION Y GLOBALIZACION EN EL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismo y mecanismos de cooperacién en la Cuenca del Pacifico, México, 2000, Serie Cuadernos de Estudios Regionales, UNAM, FCPyS, 60 p. (La lectura se encuentra en la Unidad 1.) Lectura 2. Roman, Zavala, Alfredo; "Japon y la ASEAN, liderazgo en conflicto”, Eje de! Comercio Exterior, Aduanas, CAAREM, Ang 6, Num. 2, 2007, pp. 42- 45. Lectura 3, Ramirez, Bonilla, Juan José; *...Al prj del Comercio Exterior, Aduanas, CAAREM, Afio, ca 10 ASEAN mas Tres’, Eje Num. 2, 2007, pp. 26-28, ib UNIDAD 8. EL DESARROLLO Blt ¥ LOS MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES EN ASIA PACIFICO. Lectura 1. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers, California, 1995, pp. 103-156 y 213-259. / Lectura 2. Mahbubani, Kishore, zPueden pensar los asidticos?, México, Siglo XXI, 2002, pp. 45-85. Lectura 3. Zakaria, Fareed; “The culture is destiny: a conversation with Lee Kwan Yew’, Foreign Affairs, March-April, 1994, Vol. 73, No. 2 Unidad 1. Lectura 1. Borthwick Mark, Pacific Century. The Emergency of Modern |Pecte Asia, Westview Press, 1998, pp. 1-11 Lr my Gta: oo Sorte Reon ores of Mo kevn aeha ASA 1a9B, Jermacha hook. ¥ Projeasom : Nato Riverm -ngat Introductio Paton a Tain 4 Paap \sian peoples no longer need think in terms of an East Asian framework. In view of the prevailing economic, defense, and political relations in the region, it would seem reasonable 10 take the entire Pacific Basin as the sphere of [an] emerging civilization.” —Masakazu Yamazaki, Japanese scholar and playwright PEKSPECTIVES ON A PACIFIC CENTURY “Pacific Century” has become a catchphrase for an Asian economic renaissance. Used most frequently with reference to the future, the term more accurately reflects the past — a century of modernizing encounters ‘with the West that have profoundly shaped the region. As the new century begins to converge with a New Asia, the term will retain its implication for the future, for many believe that the Pacific is giving rise to a new era in human history. ‘This book looks but tangentially at that future, being devoted primarily to understanding the present Pacific Century. If the world has experi- enced several, perhaps many of these “Pacific” eras, surely none has been as globally significant as the present one. The next century may bear the sobriquét of the great ocean, but it will be a product of the century that is now passing. By reviewing this past we are better able to under- stand why Pacific Asia, after more than a century of conflict and subjugation by the West, has revived with such force and dynamism. The Pacific Transition The majority of the Asia Pacific economi have passed a set of milestones which, tak together, constitute an unprecedented transform tion of this broad region in a very short time. their per capita incomes, trade and investme volumes, education levels, and numerous oth indicators, many of these societies have exceed: the goals set by their most extravagant dreame of a century ago. The modernization period for Pacific As’ stretches back into the nineteenth century. embraces the rise and demise of the colonial er: birth pangs of new A: 3s, cali and rebellions, the growth of great metropolise export and investment booms and bust: countless other landmarks of change. Yet th periodin Asian history remains poorly understoc jin the West. Coinciding with one of the greate worldwide economic expansions int history, it w: shaped as much as in any other region by Wester cultural and technological influences. Asian trad tions may have exerted counter influences in artis tic movements and trade relationships, but th impact from the West was proportionately greate Introduction » 1 ‘This historic imbalance may becoming to an end A transition is now underway that will place Pacific Asia on a more equal footing with the West in the coming century. ‘Already, this transition has altered the struc- ture of world business and industry. Expanding as they mature, Asian industries are achieving a global reach that has displaced some industries in the West. Like all broad impacts, this one inspires exaggerated claims by pundits and alarmists, some of whom predict the “Asianization of the world” and that China will engulf the Pacific region. But just as Mandarin is not about to become the lingua franca of Pacific Asia — English retains that standing outside Chinese regions — it wouid be an exaggeration to suggest thai the center of the world is returning to Asia. Rather, Asia’s relationship to the world is chang- g and imensifying. In the process, Asia will indeed help shape the global community. Examples abound, bet to cite only a few, Korea now conducts more trade with the develop- ing world than with all the developed nations combined. Japan has timed anew toward Asia, conducting a greater volume of trade with its Asian neighbors than with Europe and America together. Japan passed yet another milestone in 1995 by manufacturing more overseas than it exported, demonstrating how extensively its global economic activity has been dispersed. These changes imply 4 fundamental shift in the geographic weight of global economic activity According to World Bank growth forecasts, the shift will have occurred decidedly toward Asia within a quarter century. This is part of a larger nsition by which the so-called “developing uations” will surpass the industrial nations in aggregate percentage of world output, a change that is being driven mostly from Pacific Asia. Barring unforeseen disasters, such as a major war or global depression, this strong economic growth will continue even if the historically fast pace gradually slows. For many, such a slowdown will be welcome and overdue. The boom of the 1980s and 1990s vaulted several Asian Capitals into the ranks of the most expensive cities in the world. While living costs have soared, travelers have learned that they must book flights to these cities weeks in advance. Ports and surrounding urban regions are straining to accommodate the 2» Pacific Modern Western civilization has brought the world umbrella to Asia for the first time, and @ dual structure of civilization is now taking shape in the region. The Asian world and Asian civilization cited so often of late have their origins not deep in the past but in mod- ernization this century in an Asia in contact with the West. Masakazu Yamazaki expansion. Not surprisingly. the environmental burdens are becoming acute as well; even if for now the remedies are being postponed in the interest of rapid, short term growth. Modernization implies a host of real costs to societies, but in Asia the pejorative connotation of the term has lost much of its impact amid a reduc- tion of poverty on a vast scale. We are better able tosee modernization for what it is, a dynamic mix of global forces — economic, social, cultural, and technological — each having a broadly unifying effect in the Pacific Rim. The observations of playwright Masakazu Yamazaki, quoted above, summarize what is still only vaguely recognize that modemization is shaping a “Pacific” civiliza- tion built on several levels and dividing East and ‘West less than is commonly believed. The first task, then, must be to define what is meant by “modem” in the Asian context. The concept of the “modem” is one that Asians have defined in a variety of ways, ranging from an economic and cultural state toward which they strive to the embodiment of influences they wish to reject. However broad the meaning, its omis- sion from the historians vocabulary seems unnec- essary and its use in the title of a major historical work, The Search for Modern China, is encourag ing. The author of that work, Jonathan Spence, provides us with as good a definition as any of how the term “modern” may be used in assessing, China’s development and, by extension, that of other nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Lunderstand a “modern” nation to be one that is both integrated and receptive, fairly sure of its own identity yet able to join others on equal terms in the quest for new markets, new tech- nologies. new ideas. If it is used in this open sense, we should have no difficulty in seeing “modern” as a concept that shifts with the times as human life unfolds, instead of simply relegating the sense of “modern” to our own contemporary world while consigning the past to the “traditional” and the future to the “postmodern.” PACIFIC ASIA: CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS, RATIONALE, What Is Asia? Asia is a concept invented by the Greeks in the fifth century BCE*. It has survived ever since as 2 useful construct for outsiders. For Homer, the yord “Asia” meant only the region of Anatolia (modem Turkey). For the Greeks, who divided the known world into three great parts, Homer’s Asia was but “Asia Minor.” The real Asia to them was called “Asia Major.” Evocative of a vasi, rich, and powerful land that encompassed the Persian Empire, then the world’s greatest empire, Asia seemed to the Greeks to stretch unendingly toward the east from Anatolia, Real and imaginary images of what we now cali Asia were to haunt the dreams of Alexander the Great in his quest to unite the known world just the way they would beckon countless explorers, conquerors, traders, and wanderers in subsequent centuries. ‘The concept of “Asia,” created by-oetsiders, clearly did not originate with Asians themselves, but they eventually appropriated it for their own uses and accepted a number of subdivisions established by geographers and historians. “South Asia” and “Southwest Asia” have been blocked out within the Eurasian landmass, but their boundaries remain fluid. A division of the region according to its physical features, for example, may have little bearing on political and cultural areas. Thus, Southwest Asia (or West Asia) embraces such areas as the Arabian Penin- sula, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran but omits other parts respectively. * BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common of the region whose transcendent feature is Arabic language and culture. The term “Mic East” gets us no further. It, too, is vague strikes the inhabitants as Eurocentric, but t call it Sharqad Alwsad, which literally me “Middle East” in Arabic. Other parts of A confront these same dilemmas. In short, how one defines the component pi of “Asia” are matters of time and vantage po. ‘The terms used here may be disputed, but if i understood that they represent concepts that hz always been malleable. tolerance will prevail. Pacific Asia Diversity — geographic, cultural and politic — is the overriding reality of the area we will c Pacific Asia, but the accompanying reality is o of interaction and mutual influence that makes regional construct increasingly relevant and us ful. Today more than ever, one is challenged * discern both the general and the particular whe discussing trends in Pacific Asia. ‘This region excludes much that is traditional embraced within the term “Asis.” Omitted. fc example, arc “South Asia” (India, Pakistar Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) and th countries of “Southwest Asia” noted above Although Pacific Asia historically has had signi: icant levels of interaction with these regions, i most recent cultural and economic orientation have been toward the Pacific littoral. Pacific Asi comprises Fast Asia and Southeast Asia, tw major sociogeographical subsets (along with Oce ania, North America, and South America) in th overarching concept of a Pacific Basin.” A natural division can be made within thi latter realm between the Western Pacific, on th: one hand, and North America on the other. In spi of their being geologically connected in the north the two halves of the region have develope: throughout their histories in fundamentally differ ent ways. Only in the past century did they begir to converge significantly, éach driven by the Era) will be used in this text, replacing BC and AE Introduction + 3 necessities of modern commerce. Previously, for ‘Western Pacific societies, the Indian Ocean and the Silk Road of Inner Asia were the avenues of distant commerce. America was not part of the “known world” until the late fifteenth century.? ‘The physical barriers that have inhibited the flow of people throughout the Asia-Pacific region naturally form the boundaries around which Asian societies and cultures have coalesced. They con- tinue to shape our understanding of how the world of the Pacific Basin is divided. EAST ASIA China and Inner Asia ‘The largest political unit of Asia has been and remains China: Its combined population and phys- ical domain have not been equaled by any other Asian nation. Within its vast geography, stretching into “Inner Asia,” are five components that make the total picture somewhat easier to comprehend: (etre consists of three great tiver Si the Huanghe (Yellow River) ia the north, the Yangzi in central China, and the Xi (West River) in the South. The first of these rivers, the Huonghe, served as “the cradle of Chinese civilization” by sustain- ing the earliest settlements thet would become Chinese society around 3000 BCE. From there, in the area of the Wei Ho valley or “Great Bend” of the river, these settlements spread_both north and. south toward the natural barriérs that were to ‘establish their relative isolation from more distant lands. The Huanghe has been both bane and bless- ing to China for many centuries, having flooded so often with destructive results that it became ‘known as “China’s Sorrow.” The flooding even led to a major change in the course of the river uring the nineteenth century: Where previously it flowed southward below Shandong province it now flows north to the Gulf of Zhi Li. The possi- bility of its flowing southward once again cannot be ruled out. ‘The relatively coo! climate of North China sustains bountiful harvests of millet and wheat in itsriver valleys. The Yangzi River Basin in central China is an area of even greater agricultural rich- 4 © Pacific Century ness that supports rice and cotton-growing. The great commercial cities of China — Shanghai, Nanjing (Nanking), Wuhan (Hankou), and Chongqing (Chungking) are on the Yangzi River. By far the largest proportion of China’s popula- tion resides in this region which comprises about three-quarters of a million square miles. The smallest of the three major river basins, the Xijiang, is separated from northern and central China by 2 mountain range known as the Nan Shan. This semitropical southern area has been physically distinct from the rest of China, a sepa- ration that has contributed to its population's rep- utation for being very independent-minded. Minority groups are the norm here because the Han Chinese only arrived in large numbers in the twelfih century. The key city of Guangzhou (Can- ton) and the colonies ef Macao and Hong Kong served as important early points of contact with the West. This region of China remains the source of many Western impressions of the whole country—___ Manchuria, an area in northeast China with a broad plain bordered by two mountain ranges, has attracted a massive and relatively recent inflow of Chinese from the south. Prior to‘the twentieth century, Manchuria was the private domain of the Manchv conquerors of China and therefore was closed to immigration by ordinary Chinese. Its immense natural resource endowments, combit ing soybean and wheat croplands with great for- ests and mineral deposits, have made itan obvious strategic-economic asset and the object of bloody contests among imperial powers in the late nine- teenth and early twentieth centuries. ~~ Mongolia is now only partially claimed by China. The present-day People’s Mongolian Republic consists of what was once called “Outer Mongolia.” It is bordered along the north by Rus- sian Siberia (see below) and in this century has been allied to Russia. Next to it, “Inner Mongolia,” with a slightly larger population, grew out of the traditional acceptance by the Mongols. of Chinese suzerainty during the period when the Manchus controlled the imperial throne in Beij- ing. China has perpetuated its control in the area by creating frontier provinces whose purpose, in part, is to prevent movements toward indepen- dence and unification among the Mongol people. Another form of control has been the resettlement i of Han Chinese into China's province, with the result that today more Han Chinese than Mongo- lians reside there. The region is bordered by the Gobi Desert in the south and is generally pastoral, supporting great herds of sheep, goats, cows, camels, and horses. Xinjiang is one of the least-known areas of China and it defies ordinary Western notions of what China is like. Sometimes known as Chinese ‘Turkestan, the Xinjiang region is populated by traditionally nomadic, Turkic-speaking Uigurs, most of whom are Moslems. The extreme remote- ness of the area, combined with its harsh desert climate, has prevented serious exploitation of what may.be extensive mineral resources. Boers to the south of Xinjiang amid a vast watershed of mountain ranges. The great river systems of both India and China flow from the deep valleys of this region, making it in popular reference the “Roof of the World.” Over the cen- turies, China has claimed the right to control Tibet, but not until the relatively recent Manchu (or Qing) Dynasty was a close association established and then only by force. For a period in the early twentieth century Tibet became independent of China vntil the latter reasserted control in 1950. The inhabitants of Tibet are of Mongolian origin. Their political and religious iife is centered around a Lamaist and Buddhist faith for which the focus is a spiritual leader, the Dalai Laina, and his great monastery palace at Lhasa, the Potala. The island of ‘faiwan, with a land area of approximately 36, f lies off the southern shores of China. Its mountainous terrain leaves only a quarter of the land available for intensive agriculture. The climate is subtropical. China asserted its official control over Taiwan during the Qing Dynasty. Since 1949, however, Taiwan's teaders have defied conirol from the mainland, treating the island as a separate economic and political entity. Korea, Japan, and East Siberia size of the state of Idaho. Beyond a range of high mountains in the north it is connected to the Asian landmass by the Manchurian plain. Surrounded by the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east, it forms a natural “landbridge” ; from the Japan Islands which lie to the south accident of geography has made Korea a « road of foreign invasion from both Chin: Japan. Even so, passage across Korea has 1 been easy: Its terrain is mountainous and on percent of the peninsula is available for ag: tural production. In spite of Korea’s proximity to Chine Japan, its people do not trace their ethnic or to either country. The ancestors of present Koreans came in successive migratory w. from Siberia, Inner Mongolia and Manchuri form, over time, a very homogenous ethnic gr: ‘The lenguageis Altaic, thats, related to Manc: ian and Mongolian tongues, and except for rowed terms it has no relationship to Chines. Japanese. pan jes off the Asian continent nexi ‘Korca end comprises four prim islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyashu. Its climate, dominated by the monsoc is complicated by the surrounding ocean and Proximity to the Asian landmass. Winters ale the coast of the Japan Sea are snowy and mod ate, for example, while along thé Pacific seabos they are cold and dry. The Japanese islands « pooriy endowed with natural resources but t oceans that surround them make Japan one of t major fishing nations of the world. The islands are subject to earthquakes cccasional volcanic activity, so the populati concentrates in lowland areas. The land must su, port the seventh highest population on earth, b only 15 percent of the area is cultivable. Thus, tt appropriate uses of land, in what has become highly industrialized society, generate ongoin controversy. ‘With the exception of the Ainu, a small min ity ethnic group, and several hundred thousan immigrant Koreans, the Japanese population he remained remarkably homogeneous over the cer turies. in edlinolinguistic terms Japan is 99 percen Japanese? =p. 7 The.name “Siberia” evokes images of vac stretches of tundra and isolated villages. In fact there is no unitary territory officially designate: by that name. Rathér, Siberia refers to a regio encompassing all lands within modem Russi east of the Ural Mountains. The most significan Introduction * 5 portions of this region for our purposes are “Eastern Siberia” and the “Russian Far East.” The former comprises the region east of Lake Baikal and north of China and Mongolia, includ- ing its major cities Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. The Russian Far Fast consists primarily of the regions bordering the Pacific Ocean. Its major cities are Khabarovsk, Yakutsk: and Vladivostok. These two regions combined cover an area more than 10,000,000 km, yet the population, made up mostly of immigrants from the “European” areas of Russia, numbers litte more than fourteen million. SOUTHEAST ASIA Mainland Southeast Asia ‘A major transition: occurs when we move below south China into an area that is gradually losing its colonial-era label, “Indochina.” For many centuries, the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia, principally Vietnam, fell under the nominal suzerainty of China, and the cultural attributes from that influenge are still evident. Within the mainland region lie the modem staies” of Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia (Kampuchea), and Vietnam. ‘This mainland region is divided geographi- cally into three parts according to the north-south mountain systems that ertierge from the highlands of South China. To the west of a mountain chain sunning down through the Malay Peninsula lies Burma, The central, lower area is Thailand and ‘Cambodia. Laos and Vietnam are demarcated by the Annam Mountains which parallel the coast of the South China Sea. The westem sections of mainland Southeast Asia are also mountainous, particularly Laos, Similarly, Burma is hemmed in by mountains on three sides which feed its triple river system: the Irrawaddy, Chindwin, and Sittang. Cambodia and the southern area of. Vietnam enjoy a thriving agriculture, mainly rice cultiva- tion, on the great plain of the Mekong River Delta. In Burma, the Irrawaddy Delta also pro- duces abundant rice. Thailand's main area of agricultural productién, a central plain drained by the Chao Phraya River, contains both its present, 6 + Pacific Century 7 capital. Bangkok. and its former capital, Ayuth In Vietnam, the physical geography mirzors polarized political geography: the sout! Mekong River Delta matches the Songkoi (R River) delta in the north but is twice its size. T two are linked by a long backbone of mountai and, parallel to it, a coastal lowland regio Northern Vietnam is much more rugged than south. ~- Southeast Asia's numerous ethnic groups a: distributed in complex patterns. They hav emerged from two sources: first, southwar migrations over many centuries under pressur from the southern expansion of the Han Chinese and second, the importation of laborers from India and China during the period of Europear colonization. There are broadly shared linguistic traditions in mainland Southeast Asia tha: include ‘the Tai speaking peoples. The mosi widely-shared religious belief of the mainland area is Buddhism, although there are numerous exceptions. 7 Island Southeast Asi Geologically, the mainland of Asia juts further to the southeast than is apparent on most ‘maps. Nearly ail the great islands of Southeast Asia stand ‘on the continental shelf of Asia known as the Sunda Shelf, covered by relatively shallow sea in the Malacca Straight, the Java Sea, and the sout em part of the South China Sea. The Sunda Shel? abuts the Sahu! Shelf to the south and their prox- imity in previous epochs has caused an upthrust- ing of mountain ranges alongside deep oceans, particularly near Indonesia. Much of the region is still volcanic, forming part of the geological “ring of fire” that emerges at key points elsewhere around the Pacific Rim. In this realm lie the large nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the much smaller states of Si ngepore and Brunei. Ciimaticaliy, most of the region is maritime equatorial, mean- ing that both temperatures and rainfall are con- sistently high. In this “watery world” of ocean and rain, a generally dense vegetation ranges from lowland swamps near the oceans to great equatorial forests covering the higher altitudes. ‘The ratio of soils fitted for intensive agriculture is relatively limited in comparison with the over- all land area. Mineral resources, particularly oil in Indonesia and tin in Malaysia, have been main- stays of those economies. The Philippines is a strongly agriculttiral region with most production (especially rice) occurring on the island of Luzon. Population densities in Ysland Southeast Asia vary: Certain islands in both Indonesia and the Philippines (i e., Java and Luzon) are so hea’ ily populated that they are reaching crisis dens: ties while in Malaysia officials are pondering ways to incréase the population growth of north- em Borneo. ‘The underlying ethnicity of Indonesia, Malay- sia, and the Philippines is “Malay”’ with an admix~ -ture of Chinesé and indigenous tribal groups. A highly fragmented geography in the region, par- ticularly in Indonesia, which embraces thousands of islands, has contributed to this complexity. Indonesia’s population speaks at least 250 lan- guages. not counting the many local tongues in its far eastern portion of Irian Jaya. Religious beliefs are an especially important factor in social identi- ties. Much of maritime Southeast Asia outside the Philippines professes loyalty to Islam, eve: though the older animistic religions continue in Some areas and provide a significant tinderpinning to the Islamic faith. By contrast, the majority of Filipinos are Catholics. The major exception is the Muslim enclave in the southern and southwestern peripheries of the archipelago facing Malaysia, particularly on the island of Mindinao. OCEANIA ‘The most geographically diverse area Pacific Basin is Oceania, inclusive of Aus: New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. The ér pologist Douglas L. Oliver summarized the sity at the beginning of his classic survey: Ten thousand islands lie scattered over Face of Oceania, ranging from tiny atoll isl. barely visible above pounding surf to con nental Australia, three million square mil large. Every conceivable kind of physical se ting is to be found. Almost within sight of ti snow fields which cap New Guinea's centr. mountains are sweltering equatorial swamp. And the iraveler need not voyage fr Australia’s desert to rain-soaked Hawaii t compare climatic extremes: he can find nearl as great contrast on singie islands.* ‘The varied and expansive arez of Oceanis embraced within a single concept that deriy from origins in remote geological time and fro the animal, plant, and human populations th adapted in it much later. Situated on the Sunc Shelf, maritime Southeast Asia extends dow almost to Australia. There it encounter “Oceania’s western moat” —a deep ocean ri that has been an ancient barrier to the passage animal and plant life. Beyond lies the Sahul She: containing Australia and the great continent: high island of Papua New Guinea. Islands far of to the south and east are either remnants of ancien continents (such as New Zealand) or voleanoe: whose crests remained above the ocean (such a: Hawaii and Tahiti) or have been eroded down to sea-level coral outcrops around an ancient crater rim (such as Truk in the Caroline Islands and ‘Kwajelein in the Marshalls). Australia and Ocea- nia were among the last major world regions to be inhabited by humans. NORTH AMERICA. ‘The eastern seaboard of North America has interacted significantly with the Pacific Basin from the nineteenth century on, but now the most Introduction + 7 intensive interaction is in the American West (including western Canada, Mexico, and the United States). What follows is 2 sketch of the important and sometimes overlooked geographic features that have contributed to America’s West Coast settlement patterns and intensifying inter- change with Asia. ‘The Pacific coast of North America “faces” the rest of the Basin and is connected to it geolog- ically. Two main “fold lines” cross over from Asia: one moving through the Aleutian Islands and the other coming from the Bering Strait in the heights of Northeast Asia. The first, the Aleutian fold, begins at the Alaska Mountains where it follows the curve of the Gulf of Alaska, then descends along the coast to Vancouver in the course of which it is broken by the sea into a fringe of islands. Another line of the Aleutian fold becomes ie Coast Range, the Cascade Range, and the Sierras to form the western rim of a great plateau area. The second great fold descends much further to the east until it forms the easter rim of the great plateau which is about eight hundred miles wide near San Francisco. This tableland tilts toward the Pacific, so that its rivers, breaking through the mountains, flow down to the sea. ‘The lowlands of the American Pacific coast run from Vancouver to the Gulf of California in an almost continuous valley lying between the ‘ocean and the mountains of the great plateau. The three major sections are the Fraser-Columbia- ‘Willamette valleys in the north, the Sacramento- San Joaquin valleys in the center —both rich agricultural areas — and the Gulf of Galifintia, the head of the valley, now mostly drowned by the and surrounded by extremely dry lowlands. The high elevations of the great plateau are traps for the moisture coming in from the Pacific. Falling mainly as snow in the mountains, it piles up and then melts during the summer when the dry Jands of California most need the water. Similar inward movement of moist air along the seaward slopes north of 40 degrees latitude cr: almost constant rainfall that nourishes the vast forest reserves of North América. ‘These natural endowments have greatly influ- enced early American commerce with the Pacific Basin, The first great attraction for settlement was gold. Then, a more diverse economy, attractive climate, and later a thriving culture have drawn 8 + Pacific Century j millions to the American Pacific shore. Signifi- cant numbers of this still-growing immigrant pop- ulation have roots that stretch. like the land itself, to Asia. CONTINENT AND OCEAN: THE TWO FRONTIERS Concepts of what is “Asia” have changed over time, with a fundamental shift of perspective — the “Pacific Basin” perspective — having begun as the West approached Asia from the New Wortd. Yet an equally fundamental shift occurred in China. The nature of the change can be best visu- alized by holding up a globe and positioning its center at Beijing, then repositioning the globe to focus on an early maritime center such as Manile. The two worlds of Pacific Asia become readily apparent. The first is a world dominated by the continental land mass of Asia; the second by the ‘ocean. Gver geological time, the Asian continent has been the predominant infiuence on the sea around it, Even though only a small part of thé mainland drains into the Pacific,’ one finds rocks, plants, animals, and inhabitants far out into the ocean that are Asiatic in character and origin. The Pacific also sends powerful currents and winds toward the continent that profoundly affect its iife. These two dimensions provide a convenient analogy for the shift of perspective and ‘new interaction that occurred between Asia’s land- and ocean-cen- tered worlds. For many centuries, the rich treasures and innovations of China rippled outward along the maritime trade routes through Southeast Asia to India and beyond while a different flow with relatively lesser impact on China moved in the opposite direction. Then, in the sixteenth century, sea-bome Europeans began to intrude upon the exes of Pacific Asia. Eventually, they exerted unprecedented military and eco- nomi pressures on China. The fabled overland Silk Route lost its primacy for bringing distant Enropean influences. Central Asia ceased to be the main source of foreign threats. Just as the warming ocean in the summer causes the winds to shift, sending them rushing toward the continent, so did the great Pacific carry the gusts of change toward China and East Asia. Until the nineteenth century, China dominated the region with its continental-centered world view. The Great Wall symbolized this overriding concer with threats, new influences, and oppor- tunities emanating from within the Asian main- land where, froma very early time, the inhabite of fertile river valleys competed with one anot and with intruding nomadic tribes from the step When at last this vision began to shift towan recognition that the future lay at the ocean’s ed: it symbolized a major turning point in Pacif Asian history. Introduction * 9 NOTES Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (New York: Norton, 1990), p. xx. After the very early Spanish influence from the New World had diminished, only the United States in the Western Hemisphere possessed population. resources, and military power on a scale large enough to exert a major influence on the course of Pacific Basin history. Latin American and Canadian interaction with the Pacific have been signif icant, but like the South Pacific region, they are not discussed in detail in order to contain a topic that is already of unwieldy propor- tions. Asians did of course cross the Bering land bridge in the late Pleistocene Epoch to begin populating the Americas around thirty thou- sand years ago. 10 * Pacific Century 4. Douglas L. Oliver, The Pacific Islands (Ca bridge. MA: The President and Fellows Harvard College, Natural History Libaras 1951. 1961), p. 3. 5. The land area that drains into the Paci Basin is approximately one-fourth the size the area drained by the Atlantic Ocean ev: though the Pacific’s volume is twice as larg With a globe, it is almost startling to look the Pacific head-on, for it covers a third of tt planet's surface. Its area is greater than th: of alll the land above sea level and, as suci constitutes a major barrier even in an era c advanced modes of communication an transportation. UNIDAD 14. Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismos y Mecanismos de Cooperacién Regional en la Cuenca de! Pacifico. UNAM, FCPyS, 2000, pp. 1-16 (Nota: La lectura completa se empleara para la Unidad 7). 1. Ex Pacirico: DIVERSIDAD Y CONTRADICCION 1.1 Cuenca del Pacific ileances conceptuales [Cuenca del Pacifico, es menester superar su pérspectiva ‘geografica para entenderla como una representacién fisico-espa-; cial que alberga una serie de rolaciones econémicas, politica sociales y culturales, histéricamente cambiantes y en la’ que’ interactan elementos, procesos y tendencias bajo una. compleja y contradictoria." 4s ali do as indtinicionostefminliicas dl onepito do | | La literatura anglosajona ha utiizado una serie de conceptos | | para identiicar en forma parcial y en términos generales a la re | {i6n, mismos que se han utilizado en su traduccién al‘ espaol. { Entre los principales encontramos: S a) Lejano 0 Extremo Oriente. De acuerdo con Lothar Krauth, este" concepto refleja un arraigo colonialista en el que implicitamety- {i te se ubica a Europa como el epicentro del mundo y se const \uye el punto inicial para definir geogréficament la ubicacish de regiones dentro del universo no europeo? 4 a b) Este de Asia. Existe una tendencia a expandir las déinarcacid: res geograficas del Este asidtico a lo que éstictaimente seria? o: "Asif Dirk, What is in a Rim? Critical Perspective on the Pacitic Region idea, Westview Press, 1999, p. 4 * Lothar Knauth, L madornad do Jagd, UNA, 1980, p . " 14 Carlus Uscanga «scent. Eeogondattoeri sovec- tres orl peo uefa rns tt te as ua tag peri te CI fan) como al Sudeste de Asi 5 por Inovei alan, ala, Sas isco, Camboye, mania, Brunei Darussalam, flips y Vea). ¢) Cuenc: if ) oe Pacifico. Cuando se inicigron las propuestas para el ec er pests "acific Basin. En México y América Latina se utiliz6 enter is rtonsa durante los arog Schif 1concopo plane /arios | 50 der a ae tet ieee tea ‘su.Uso dentro del ambiente eS = ion trali eva Zelanda), asi como a Estados Ur : scrim ce a tog ef Ee cottage asc ocr Cuando ot interés ata int latinoamericano se orienté ction a buscar olin ari in nearness corprin err so oui jc grea paerenca de han tata la Gils oi ahd ere exten one certo dt cso Pasco en te gba a amc acti ro 2 ples contr 2 lon er Eta Set asians, Paefico Surya plana conten amecana desde Est aoe death Ja Tierra de Fuego. El ingreso de paises ean a sxico a los foros de discusi6 cn. sn mlteraes lice 1a dejado ahora en el olvido la justificacién geo ova lar su ingreso a los mismos. an En este séntido, e: ic anes stn on cnn ents op risapte: en por lugar, bajo una vin global stat einai ymecanoox de copeacsnenta cure de Parco 8 un espacio de interaccién econémica, politica, sociocultural © isteriea entre todos fos pases con Iitoral en Océano Paci So. Estos tipos de conectividad son dinamicos ¥ cambiantes historieamento, en ellos se entretejen complelas redes de con- rite subordinacion, ast como de esiabiidad, aenare lo y ‘cooperacién. En segundo lugar, bajo una connotacién mas es pecifica, es preciso ubicar os procesos generados de lo que se pmominaria la parte asistica de la Cuenca de Pacifico, cuyos sieances concoptuales serian semejantes 2105 02 ‘Asia-Pacifico ipaoifico asiatico. Es decir, en la rogién del Este ¥ ‘Sudeste de «gia, asi como el Pacifico Sur. En tercor lugar de igual formaen Asia Rpito tambign mas locaizado, se podrian refert 6 la parte ‘americana de fa Cuenca det Pacifico que incluirfa a. Canada, aijados Unidos y México on América del Norte; 19s paises cen- Fetmericanos y a Colombia, Ecuador, Perd y Chile on ‘Sudamé- rica. 4) Asia Pactico 0 Pacitico asiatico. En forme frecuente estos t6r- vamente como similares al de,Cuencd ‘minos son usados errénet i pacifico, Esta situacién ha sido estimulada on gra parte porelnacimiento en 1989 del arec. Bajo una perspectiva exclust rronte geogratica, se exchila ala cuenca americans del Pa ‘igo. Una corriente de opinion apunta que é} uso de este'tér- ‘nino refleja una porspeativa econdmica, como Uh espacio'de Intonelaciones comerciales yfinancieras que integra 2 24 miem- ros de ese mecanismo. — ~=—=—CSCS~—érétrtrL agenerado por el uso de perspectvas tmiades; las que se aera ur goo olemento para fa dofnicion de fa rage, spire resonstu una concopcién dela Cuenca do! Pacifico como: ceigapacio material y como un area do la actividad J 9 interacclon raesang HeOO FT ula iapeae icf tration através del entendiiento de las interacctre rhumanas fon todas sus expresiones: en el émbito pollen, ‘econémico, 80- ti: (or tosural etcetera), to que nos permitiia comprender mejo- Wi, pA * Bleonore Kafana Kofman dnd Gillan Youngs, “troduction: Globalization - The Second ‘Wave", en Eleon ate Kote ings, Globalization Theory and Practice, re Kofman and Gian Youngs, Gi EA, Pinter Edtors, 1986, p. 1. exonlsna ymaansmor de conperacon el enc el Paced ” Los autores consideran como un nuevo desallo ¢ uso, det consepto do giobaizacion una especie de segunes oleada de Fensamionto, para separara dela aproximacén universal a otra Se MT pesar de que el de globalzacién os un proces, general, SUS «pettus en cada subregi oinctuso en iter 6 tas. forma Sr cone eas rospuestas al mpulso globaizante, de f0vA Or". serdn distintas. « » por ejemplo, en América Latina la adopetén del mou Tere Incr es coneecuoncia directa del agotarrto del moat de remttveion do importaciones y de la posterior ons financiera sees sufi a To larg do la cada de fos alos Soe Bajo la see aig los oxgarismos financeros intemacionals, paises ature de esnoe ce weron forzads a adopt un modelo se se tia fuera realizando un proceso de beralzanicr safalyfinanciera. Esta nueva estratoga, de acuerdo At Satya re ey yak, estuvo caracteizeda por: 1) un gran énjasis © a B atacign de variedados 10 raccionales, come prose no eeficols; 2) procesos de manvtacturas ene} eect industrial: 3) cron asimérica ene capital. tabalo, ona due 6) Pree wo goza de una gran y veriginosa movildad #) Proce, de des- Fegulacion econémica y prvatizacion de emproree publicas y 5) (oo ea de las agencis fnanioras internacionales 126 C59 tree ntomacionaly local, y las élite de gobiemna® impacto de fa globalizacion en America Latina $F ta aceierada tberaizecién comercial y financiera fue un mecaneo de re8- puesta para obtener mayores margenes competencia en fa pucsion de capital extranjero y on la promocion de Suh exporta- iones en los mereados internacionales. L& decision de México Saya A Patinayak, "Lan American Potial ESOT, ata Crossroad: AN rea en Saya A. Patnayak (ecto), Genel ‘Urbanization and the tr toa Studes on Contemporary Latin America, £3 University Press ‘ot America, 1996, P-5 18 Carlos Uscanga para la negociacién del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte con Estados Unidos y Canada (TLcAN) y la posterioridea de la expansién de este mecanismo hacia otros paises de América Latina tuvieron un efecto directo en la renovacién de las viejas ideas de regionalismo y en el establecimiento de acuerdos de co- mercio subregionales y el fortalacimiento de los nexos bilaterales. En’cambio, la experiencia de la regién del Asia-Pacifico es un claro ejemplo de otros mecanismos de Fespuesta a las tenden- clas dindmicas de la globalizacién econémica. Seguin Richard Le Heron y Sam Ock Park: durante © periodo de la posquerra hasta los afios 80, los paises, asidticas.ce la Cuenca, del Pacifico estuvioron experimentando difcutades en ta cooperacién econdmica debido a las barreras, politicas v las diferencias en los ‘sistemas écondmicos y régulatonigs: No obstants,réctentemento ha habido un nivel consi- erable de vodperacion econémica transtronteriza y el desarrollo 446 espacies indusriales en el drea de la Cuenca Asiatica del Pa- cificg 1 Et ineremento reciente de volimenes comerciales y de inversion porlas Nueva Economias Industializadas de Asia puede ser visto como résultado de la reestructuracién para la sobrevi- venci debit a lés Cambios de la poltca internacional y su com cPelltvidad en la competencia global, reestructurando no sélo { entranstorsaciones sectoriales regionales dela industia pero. | | mas bien susreyando os cambios de a crgnizacén ye tocolo gia de la prc duccién, de las relaciones de trabajo, y también las.) Uretaciones ers las émoresas. Por ultimo, vale la pena retomar el planteamiento de Stuart Harris en torno a las dos fuerzas opositoras dentro de la globali- zacién: Por un lado, incrementa las presiones intemas hacia fos gobler- ‘nos para ver en el regionalismo a un escudo contra la competen- cia, Proponentes de tal proteccionismo usualmente argumentan “Richard Le Hetin y Sam Ock Park, “Geografes of Globalization’ en ebard Le Heron y Sam Ock Pack, The Asian Pacific Rim and Globalization, Nueva Zelanda, Avery Edors, 1995, p. 8 rnismo en fa regi gecooperctonenta Cuenca del Pacico 19 Regionalismo y mecanismos dt cond pare ganar 1900 Y wo una mei an as woo Para ACTS Me ¢ yetitivos, pero el tiempo apropiado para 2 genta 8 competves Per tea pat, ta gbalzcin dessa parece 5 oques cerrado porque IMPOne

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