Asian Journal of Public Affairs, Volume 1, Issue 2, Fall 2007

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Table of Contents

Notes from the Editors' Desk

Dear Reader,

The Asian Journal of Public Affairs welcomes you to our Second Issue. Contributors from four continents address policy challenges emanating from Asia that shape the today’s state of the world. At the heart of this issue lies the proposition that the global trajectory of the first decades of the 21st century will inexorably lead through Asia. It seeks to echo the 2007 Global Public Policy Network (GPPN) Conference, “Globalizing Asia or Asian Globalization”, held at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, and to further stir the debate on public policies that know no boundaries.

We open with a commentary by Dr. Caroline Brassard, an experienced practitioner and scholar of economic growth and development, who examines Bhutan’s Contribution to Public Policy Making. Dr. Brassard‘s piece highlights three issues that may arise from the adoption of an alternate indicator of Gross National Happiness. Happiness and prosperity, as former Pakistani Ambassador Touqir Hussain’s commentary on the War on Terror suggests, is perhaps what is lacking in the West’s approach to Islam. Instead, Hussain argues, the West’s politically insensitive and military-dominated strategy has only alienated Muslims, diminishing its own political standing. Readers interested in the multifaceted relationship between the West and the Muslim world are well advised to chase up Hussain's commentary with this issue's review of Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s book “The Idea that is America”.

In parallel, the threat of nuclear proliferation and its impact on international security continues to warrant great concern. Developments in the Middle East have consequences for Asia: China, India, Pakistan and North Korea are suspected of having nuclear arsenals. Examining Israel’s Nuclear Predicament and Policy Options provides great insights not only into Middle Eastern politics, but also into the current debate on nuclear proliferation and security within Asia.

While governments fret over the threat of terrorism and nuclear weapons, the world economy suffers the consequences of the subprime crisis. Asian economies have thus far escaped relatively unscathed from the recent financial turmoil, but the threat of global recession indubitably remains of great concern. A look at monetary policy in Asia may therefore provide valuable insights into the reactions of Asian governments to a rapidly changing macroeconomic environment, and so we present to you the Bank of Japan’s changing monetary policies.

Expanding on the theme of global economic adjustments, this issue's book review of John Cleaver’s Understanding the World Economy evaluates a text that would explain economic theory behind current market trends. High oil prices, global warming and the quest for new energy sources are topics of much debate and Miguel Mendonça’s Feed-in Tariffs: Accelerating the Development of Renewable Energy, reviewed herein, provides a timely analysis of government’s role in providing low-carbon energy.

Finally, two graduate students of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy reflect on the proceedings of the 2007 GPPN Conference. Established in 2005, the GPPN aims at fostering education and research in global public policy trends. These two pieces address how individuals and public policy educators can become more attuned to the imperative of globalization.

We hope you will find this second issue of AJPA both informative and stimulating. As always we would like to thank those who have provided their advice and guided us with their invaluable support. We are especially grateful to our faculty advisors, Prof. Mukul Asher and Assoc. Prof. Darryl Jarvis and to our mainstay, Ruth Choe. The Editorial Board would also like to thank MPA students from partner programmes – at the Hertie School of Governance, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs – for their support and feedback at the inaugural student GPPN Conference held in Berlin in October 2007.

Yours Sincerely,
The AJPA Editorial Board
February 2008

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