Capsule Reviews

The ten contributions in this collection assess different dimensions of George W. Bush's Africa policy and offer advice to Barack Obama. The contributors give a useful glimpse into discussions about current U.S. foreign policy toward Africa; even though they are Washington insiders, their approach is not particularly partisan. They all agree that the increased attention that Washington has been paying to Africa in the last eight years has netted several significant breakthroughs. Foreign aid has shot up substantially, for instance, and AIDS programs are generally viewed as having worked.

Founded in 1967 as a talking shop to reduce conflict, ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is now the strongest regional institution in Asia. Its mandate has expanded slowly, due to the diversity of interests among its ten members -- countries as different as democratic Indonesia, authoritarian Vietnam, cosmopolitan Singapore, and isolated Myanmar. Under pressure from civil-society groups, some member governments, and its own secretariat, the organization recently adopted a new charter, which came into force in December 2008.

The career of the Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori reminded the world that Latin America, especially Brazil and Peru, is home to a sizable Japanese diaspora. It is lesser known that the influx of Japanese to the region, which took place both before and after World War II, was in large part organized and financed by the Japanese state. Its triple purpose was to get rid of undesirables, build a base outside the Japanese islands to secure commodities and food for the homeland, and create a channel for political influence abroad.

Calder makes a good case that the U.S.-Japanese alliance is in trouble. Due to changing conditions -- among them, the end of the Cold War, the rise of China, and intensified competition for Middle Eastern oil -- the alliance is out of balance. Although the defense-cooperation component remains robust, the trade relationship has become less important to both sides, and their political and cultural ties have fallen into disrepair.