War and State Terrorism

The United States, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century

Edited by Mark Selden, Alvin Y. So

Not available to order

Publication date:

26 October 2004

Length of book:

304 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781417503506

If the past hundred years will be remembered as a century of war, Asia is surely central to that story. Tracing the course of conflicts throughout the region, this groundbreaking volume is the first to explore systematically the nexus of war and state terrorism. Challenging states' definitions of terrorism, which routinely exclude their own behavior, the book focuses especially on the nature of Japanese and American wars and crimes of war. The authors also assess significant acts of terror instigated by other Asian nations including China, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Offering a rare comparative perspective, the authors consider how state terror leads to massive civilian casualties, crimes of war, and crimes against humanity. In counterbalance, they discuss anti-war and anti-nuclear movements and international efforts to protect human rights, and the interwoven issues of responsibility, impunity, and memory. Interdisciplinary and deeply informed by global perspectives, this volume will resonate with readers searching for a deeper understanding of an epoch that has been dominated by war and terror.

Chapter 1 Introduction: War and State Terrorism
Chapter 2 The United States and Japan in Twentieth-Century Asian Wars
Chapter 3 State Terror versus Humanitarian Law
Chapter 4 American Air Power and Nuclear Strategy in Northeast Asia since 1945
Chapter 5 When God(s) and Buddhas Go to War
Chapter 6 Japanese Racism, War, and the POW Experience
Chapter 7 The Waters Covered the Earth: China's War-Induced Natural Disasters
Chapter 8 Drugs and Oil: The Deep Politics of U.S. Asian Wars
Chapter 9 War, Genocide, and Resistance in East Timor, 1975-99: Comparative Reflections on Cambodia
Chapter 10 Resisting State Terror: The Anti-Vietnam War Movement
Chapter 11 Resisting Nuclear Terror: Japanese and American Antinuclear Movements since 1945

With the term terrorism recently being used in contexts that have become frighteningly more arbitrary and irresponsible, this volume appears as both timely and essential to understanding a post-911 worldview. War and State Terrorism includes perspectives that are often thought-provoking and always well documented through historical fact. With a number of notable scholars of Asian affairs contributing to this work edited by Mark Selden-himself one of the most renowned experts in his field-the volume contains contributions that provide the reader with some very interesting background to the major conflicts of the twentieth century...