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The Best Books of 2012 on Asia and the Pacific

Andrew Nathan's Picks
Article Summary and Author Biography

The Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University selects the most important books on Asia published during the last year.

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The Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University selects the most important books on Asia published during the last year. Here are his reviews, culled from recent issues of the magazine.

Click here to see all of the best books on international relations of 2012.

The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future
Capsule Review, August 20, 2012
The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future
Andrew J. Nathan

This is a meaty, fast-paced portrait of North Korean society, economy, politics, and foreign policy by an expert who has studied the regime as a scholar and interacted with its officials while serving on the National Security Council under U.S. President George W. Bush.

Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India
Capsule Review, December 27, 2012
Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India
Andrew J. Nathan

India’s economic reforms of the 1980s through the first decade of this century unleashed private enterprise, encouraged foreign investment, and expanded foreign trade. Kohli calls this economic strategy “pro-business” rather than “pro-market” because it coddles big firms.

Double Paradox: Rapid Growth and Rising Corruption in China
Capsule Review, December 27, 2012
Double Paradox: Rapid Growth and Rising Corruption in China
Andrew J. Nathan

The politicization of prosecutions for corruption in China makes official data untrustworthy, but Wedeman has still found plausible ways to assess different types of corruption and their frequency.