Synopses & Reviews
For most of the decades since World War II, the Philippines has rested comfortably on the United States when it comes to military, security, and foreign policy questions. But the rapid rise of China as a regional economic and military power has complicated the situation dramatically, and the Philippines is now forced to confront rising tensions and navigate a landscape that is suddenly more complicated.
This compact, insightful book offers an up-to-the-minute guide to understanding the evolution of foreign policy both within and towards the Philippines in recent decades, and it traces the ways the state has sought to defend its territorial integrity amid the jockeying for position by the United States, China, and Japan. A provocative analysis that points to future power shifts that will have global resonance, Asia's New Battlefield will be crucial for both scholars and policy makers.
Review
"Richard Heydarian has written a lucidly argued and impressive critique of the negative effects of neoliberal capitalism and globalization on the well-being of the Arab nations. Overall, this book gives the best understanding of why the upheavals of 2011 took place, and the struggle to create a future in which economic development, democracy and social justice are fused rather than split apart. An indispensable book for understanding the ugly aftermath of the Arab Spring without losing hope for a better tomorrow." - Richard Falk, Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University
"How Capitalism Failed the Arab World is an intellectually and morally courageous analysis of how the interplay between global capitalist forces and local tyrannies fuelled one national uprising after another. This ambitiously conceived study takes us through the modern history of the Middle East with critical acumen and a careful eye for both global dynamics and local detail. Written with considerable flair and enthusiasm, How Capitalism Failed the Arab World is extremely relevant in understanding not only the roots of the Arab Spring, but also the challenges and predicaments, trials and tribulations, that have continued to unfold in its complex path of development." - Alamin Mazrui, Professor, Rutgers University
Synopsis
Economic liberalization has failed in the Arab world. Instead of ushering in economic dynamism and precipitating gradual democratic reform, it has over the last three decades resulted in greater poverty, rising income inequality and sky-rocketing rates of youth unemployment. In How Capitalism Failed the Arab World, Richard Heydarian shows how years of political autocracy, corruption and economic mismanagement have encouraged people to revolt, and how the initial optimism of the uprisings is now giving way to bitter power struggles and increasing uncertainty.
A unique and provocative analysis of one of the key social and political events of the last decade.
About the Author
Richard Javad Heydarian is a Lecturer of political science and international relations) at Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU), the Philippines, and consultant to a number of institutions, including the House of Representatives, and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (Manila Office). He has contributed to or been quoted in The Huffington Post, Asia Times, Inter-Press Service, The Diplomat, UPI, Foreign Policy, and Tehran Times, amongst other publications, on geopolitical and economic trends in the Asia-Pacific and MENA regions.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Walden Bello
1. A Brave New Middle East: The Birth of a New Era
2. The Anti-Development State: Economic Origins of Arab Upheavals
3. The Advent of Economic Globalization: A Prelude to Crisis
4. The Great Recession: The Collapse of Arab Crony Capitalism
5. The New Power Brokers: Political Islam and the Arab Summer
6. Gulf Exceptionalism: How the Monarchies have Reshaped the Arab Spring
7. Peering into the Abyss: The Arab Spring at the Crossroads
8. Where Do We Go From Here? Finding the True Path to an Arab Spring