Title: Asia's Deadly Triangle
First published: May 9, 1996
Description: As the world moves toward the close of a turbulent twentieth century, the shadow of Asia's Deadly Triangle looms ever larger. Kent E. Calder shows how a combination of high-speed economic growth, impending energy shortages, and political insecurity are provoking an 'Arms Race Asia' and deepening geopolitical rivalries across the region, tensions that urgently require collaborative efforts at stabilization. Kent Calder explores the linkage between East Asia's economic growth and its extreme lack of accessible energy resources, which make it the world's most rapidly expanding oil and gas importer. He shows how these energy insecurities could lead Asia toward a struggle for off-shore oil and the subtle dangers that deepening regional energy dependence on the Middle East may bring, already exemplified by recent arms deals between Iran and China. The author also points to the links between efforts to acquire civilian nuclear power and the potential for nuclear armament. The history of this region is laden with conflict, and the author succinctly explains how these tumultuous age-old relationships will affect the area's volatility today. He provides a dynamic overview of where each country is headed politically, and states definitively what role the West should play in these developments.
Subjects: Defense industries, Arms race, Economic policy, Power resources, Economic development
Places: East Asia
LC classification: UA832.5 .C35 1997