Volume 99, No. 2 is now available online, featuring new research and perspectives on some of the most pressing political, economic, and social issues shaping Asia and the Pacific today: pacificaffairs.ubc.ca/issues/volum...

Volume 99 – No. 2

June 2026 Add to Cart Articles Perspectives Review Essay...

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How can middle powers preserve strategic autonomy when US–China competition increasingly shapes regional economic governance? Bangjie Hu & Hailong Ju show RCEP strengthens member states by widening political distance from Beijing & Washington. Read more online: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

"Why explain Malaysia's foreign policy through 'hedging'? Anthony Milner argues that treating neutrality & equidistance as mere rational calculation ignores local values & historical context. Time for context analysis over master-concepts. In the June Issue: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Another Perspective: Si Eun Yang & Minjae Zoh trace South Korea's shift from colonial-era cultural preservation models to today's "national heritage" framework and what it reveals about postcolonial identity, international norms, and soft power. Latest issue online 👉🏽 tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Two new Perspectives: "After the Landslide", by Phillip Lipscy on Takaichi and Abe's legacy. + "The Takaichi Election and Japan's National Security Future" by Kristin Vekasi, pushes back on the "hawkish turn" narrative. 🔗 Read both online now: www.tandfonline.com/action/showA...

New in our June issue: Arnab Roy Chowdhury reviews three recent books on forest politics in India, examining the struggles of forest-dwelling communities and asking hard questions about what the Forest Rights Act has (and hasn't) delivered. Read now: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🎉 Congratulations to both scholars on this outstanding work. The winning article will be available open access on Taylor & Francis and our website soon. Learn more about the William L. Holland Prize: pacificaffairs.ubc.ca/about/holland-prize/

Congratulations also to runner-up Mai Truong, Marquette University, for "Perceived Protest Efficacy: How Economic and Diplomatic Ties with China Influence Support for Anti-China Protests Over South China Sea Disputes". Full Article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.5...

🏆 The 24th William L. Holland Prize goes to Toshiko Tsujimoto, Ritsumeikan University, for her article on structural coercion and the trafficking of Filipino female entertainers in South Korea. Vol. 98, No. 2. Full Article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.5...

In the upcoming June Issue: @kim-minkwan.bsky.social introduces "managed fallibility"—how Kim Jong-un selectively acknowledges disaster policy failures to project competence and shore up legitimacy. Read the full article here: tinyurl.com/4jf557dd Image Credit: Korean Central News Agency

**A new Perspective** Inwook Kim & Ashton Cho argue that Seoul has real bargaining space between Washington and Beijing in a Taiwan conflict, with four military roles South Korea could play to negotiate security assurances from both sides. Read more: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

**New Perspective Piece** Remorse, resentment, and resilience shaped the 2025 Philippine midterms more than any policy platform. Aries Arugay and Maria Elize Mendoza unpack what voter emotion and the Marcos-Duterte fallout reveals about Philippine democracy today: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

📢 New in Pacific Affairs | Why did South Korea go green despite fossil-fuel lock-in? Sun Park argues: It's not Paris compliance—it was elite-driven, with political entrepreneurs recasting climate policy as industrial strategy and economic opportunity. March Issue: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FEEZF...

Time's running out! Stop by the Pacific Affairs booth (#320) in the Exhibition Hall (Vancouver Convention Centre, Ballroom A/B) at AAS Vancouver. Pick up a free journal issue and some swag and meet the editor. Here today until 530 and Sunday, March 15, 830-1230. #AAS2026

How do like-minded countries respond so differently to the same security threat? OneSun Cho examines US and Japanese submarine cable policies to show how network position shapes governing strategy. Free to read till June 1: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Why are more Vietnamese workers cashing out their pensions early? Tu Phuong Nguyen explores the paradox in our March issue—when pension design clashes with workers' real lives, early withdrawal becomes a survival strategy. → www.tandfonline.com/action/showA...

**New Article Alert** Maziar Falarti shows how Kuala Lumpur has used academic exchange and science diplomacy to preserve flexibility amid US sanctions & domestic pressures. A sharp look at how middle-income states navigate today's geopolitical landscape. 👉🏽 Read it now: tinyurl.com/mu5rr2df

Pacific Affairs will be at the Association for Asian Studies Conference in Vancouver, BC (March 12–15, 2026). Find us in the Exhibition Hall at Booth 320 — come say hello! #AAS2026

Why did the LDP lose the 2025 House of Councillors election... & what comes next for Japanese politics? New Perspectives piece in @pacificaffairs.bsky.social by @kglee98.bsky.social traces the causes and consequences of the snap House of Representatives election. Read it in our forthcoming issue!

Want to learn more about the history of globalization and its backlash? Read Marina Yue Zhang's review of "Deglobalization: Short Histories" by Edward Ashbee. tinyurl.com/44epua9z

Interested in the state formation of China in a global context? Check out Edward Wang's book review of "Birth of the Geopolitical Age: Global Frontiers and the Making of Modern China" by Shellen Xiao Wu. tinyurl.com/mrfjw6jy

In "The People's West Lake: Propaganda, Nature, and Agency in Mao’s China, 1949–1976," by Qiliang He, propoganda and the natural world meet Maoist ideologies. Read Fei Yan's book review in its entirety for free on our website now: tinyurl.com/yhaa6kdd

In "Democracy Isn't Enough for Redistribution: Welfare Stagnation and Labour Weakening in South Korea and Taiwan," Yunmin Nam and Insub Mah analyze the ways in which economic redistribution has been hampered in the two nations. Abstract available here: tinyurl.com/4eb592uj

Full text of Liam Gammon and Shiro Armstrong's article "Why “Temu Trumpism” Failed in Australia: Labor’s Landslide Victory and the Pro-Globalization Consensus" is now available on the Fast Track tab on Ingenta Connect. tinyurl.com/mryaex7u

Want to learn more about the intersection between climate change and politics in Oceania? Read Milla Vaha's review of "Climate Politics in Oceania: Renewing Australia-Pacific Relations in a Warming World," edited by Susan Harris Rimmer, Caitlin Byrne, and Wesley Morgan: tinyurl.com/5aez2eta

Miao Zhang and Rui Yang's article "Host-Site Dynamics and their Impact on China’s Investment in Malaysia: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis" is now available in full text to our subscribers! tinyurl.com/2sapstnx

Interested in the history of the Chinese Communist Party? Check out Yoshihiro Ishikawa's book review of "The Chinese Communist Party: A 100-Year Trajectory" edited by Jérôme Doyon and Chloé Froissart on our website tinyurl.com/yc8mnsyn @profyangzhang.bsky.social

THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY: A 100-Year Trajectory | Edited by Jérôme Doyon and Chloé Froissart

Book review of THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY: A 100-Year Trajectory | Edited by Jérôme Doyon and Chloé Froissart

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The last paper has been accepted for our December issue, Miao Zhang and Rui Yang's article entitled: Host-Site Dynamics and their Impact on China’s Investment in Malaysia: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. tinyurl.com/4fj2ac3u

Host-Site Dynamics and their Impact on China’s Investment in Malaysia: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

This study examines host-site political and socio-economic conditions under which China-funded projects in Malaysia shape local acceptance and avoid contestation. Employing a fuzzy-set qualitative com...

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Read Benjamin Robin Barton's review of "China's Asymmetric Statecraft: Alignments, Competitors, and Regional Diplomacy," by Yuxing Huang in the September issue of Pacific Affairs. All book reviews are available to read in-full on our website now! tinyurl.com/yc5pyz3s

Curious about how Southeast Asians view protests against China's disputes over the South China Sea? Read Mai Truong's article, "Perceived Protest Efficacy: How Economic and Diplomatic Ties with China Influence Support for Anti-China Protests Over South China Sea Disputes," now: tinyurl.com/2p9m52k7