GLOBAL SNAPSHOTS

Issues Transcending Regional Boundaries:

Pan-Asia

Content

10 Things Students Should Know About: Pan-Asia

Global Issues: o Conflict and

Resolution o Environment and

Sustainability o Food Security

Other Useful Resources

April 2016

Comprising one third of the earth’s land mass and two-thirds of the world’s population, Asia is a vast, incredibly rich,

and infinitely diverse region. From Turkey in the west to Polynesia in the east, the region provides an amazing array of

opportunities to explore a variety of academic disciplines.

The pan-Asian region can be subdivided into six regional groupings bound together by geographic location, shared

histories, and similarities in cultures:

West Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar,

Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

East Asia: China, Korea-DPRK (North), Korea-RK (South), Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan.

Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the island nations of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

panasia@iu.edu

www.iub.edu/~panasia

A key to this map is located on the back page of this packet.

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

www.iub.edu/~panasia

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1. With nearly 4.3 billion inhabitants, pan-Asia represents more than 60 percent of

the world’s population.

2. China and India are roughly a third of the world's population: a total of 2.5 billion

people inhabit the two countries.

3. Nine out of ten largest urban areas in the world are in the Asia-Pacific region.

4. The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world’s two largest land-locked countries –

Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

5. Among IMF’s rankings of the top 10 richest countries measured by GDP per capita

in 2012, five are in Asia: Qatar, Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong and United Arab

Emirates.

6. Nine out of the top ten tallest buildings can be found in pan-Asia: unsurprisingly,

Asia has the most skyscrapers in the world.

7. Some of the world’s oldest, continuous civilizations can be found in the pan-Asian

region – from Iraq to India to China.

8. Mandarin Chinese is the world’s most spoken language with over a billion native

speakers.

9. Six of the world’s seven longest rivers – the Yangtze, Yenisei, Yellow River, Ob-

Irtysh, Amur-Argun, and the Mekong – are found in pan-Asia.

10. Asia boasts both the highest (Mount Everest at 8,848m) and the lowest (Dead Sea

at -414 m) points on Earth.

10 THINGS STUDENTS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT:

Pan-Asia

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

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Conflict in Pan-Asia

Description: Pan Asia has many conflict-affected and

fragile regions, including, for example, Afghanistan,

Mindanao (Philippines), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,

Aceh (Indonesia), Southern Thailand, and Timor-

Leste. In 2013, according to Uppsala Conflict Data

Program, 11 countries in the pan-Asian region were

embroiled in armed conflict, from interstate disputes

such as the Pakistan-India conflict over Kashmir to

internal conflicts such as in Syria and Thailand. One

particular thorny issue in the region is the South

China Sea disputes.

The risk of conflict in the South China Sea is increasingly significant. Maritime

boundaries and islands in the South China Sea have been a source of contention for

many years. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines stake

competing territorial and jurisdictional claims, particularly over rights to exploit the

region's fishing areas, and potentially extensive reserves of oil and gas. Freedom of

navigation in the region is also a contentious issue, especially between the United States

and China. There have been talks of the code of conduct in the region since 2002, yet no

agreement has been reached.

Related Resources:

Uppsala Conflict Data Program-Armed Conflict Dataset:

http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/datasets/ucdp_prio_armed_conflict_dataset/

Themnér, Lotta & Peter Wallensteen (2014) Armed Conflict, 1946-2013. Journal of Peace

Research 51(4)

The Council on Foreign Relations. Armed Clash in the South China Sea:

http://www.cfr.org/world/armed-clash-south-china-sea/p27883

Maritime claims in the South China Sea graph is drawn from

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_China_Sea_vector.svg

Conflict and Resolution

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

www.iub.edu/~panasia

4

Education for Peace and Non-Violence in Pan-Asia

Description: Recognizing that education can provide an important path to promoting

understanding and thereby reducing conflict, many nations of the pan-Asian region are

seeking to incorporate peace education into their national curricula. The United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) advances such efforts by

providing support to member states to integrate a holistic vision of education that

promotes the values of a culture of peace at all levels of their education systems.

UNESCO support includes such items as the co-production of textbooks by two or more

countries to promote mutual understanding; the development of learning materials that

are culturally and linguistically appropriate; providing support to develop bilateral or

multi-lateral revisions of curricula and textbooks with the goal of removing prejudices or

stereotypes; and, promoting teacher training and educational programs in peace and

human rights education. One recent development in East Asia is joint history textbook

development. For instance, the Northeast History Foundation based in Seoul, South

Korea has promoted joint history textbook development in order to facilitate historical

reconciliation in East Asia. China, Japan and Korea have struggled to come to terms with

a shared understanding of troubled modern history. Since its advent in 2002, the

Foundation published A History Opening the Future in the three countries

simultaneously in 2005. It is the first collaboration on trilateral level as is often called

the first “Common History” of Northeast Asia. The Foundation’s latest endeavors focus

on international relations history and the social history of modern and contemporary

East Asia.

Related Resources:

UNESCO (2008). UNESCO’S Work on Education for Peace and Non-Violence: Building Peace through

Education. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001607/160787e.pdf

Peace Education - The Development of Peace Education and Its Basic Principles - Conflict,

Individual, World, and Society - StateUniversity.com

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2314/Peace-Education.html#ixzz1uBdx9iLY

The Korea-China-Japan Joint History Textbook Publication Project

https://www.nahf.or.kr/?sidx=248&stype=2

Conflict and Resolution

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

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Environment and Sustainability in Pan-Asia

Description: Huge populations, underdeveloped economies, physical geography, limited

resources, and climate change all combine to pose tremendous challenges for the

peoples of the pan-Asian region and their environment. Rapid economic growth in

countries such as India and China has led to serious

environmental degradation which has implications

both for the sustainability of that growth over the

long term and the health and wellbeing of their

populations in the future. Limited resources in such

critical areas as energy lead to cross-border

disputes and conflicts when shared resources, such

as rivers, are monopolized for use by one or more

countries (as in the case of the hydroelectric

damming of the Mekong River). The Center for Global Developments predicts that of the

twenty countries projected to have the largest number of vulnerable citizens at risk

from rising sea-levels by 2050, twelve are located in the pan-Asian region (as reflected in

the above map). The Washington Post reports research findings in an article from

Nature that, seven out of the top ten cities predicted to face the most damage as a

percentage of their overall GDP by 2050 are in pan-Asia. How will the countries of the

pan-Asian region seek to balance economic development with environmental

sustainability? What will happen to the sovereign rights of island nations such as the

Maldives should the direst predictions of rising sea-levels attain? How will relations

among the countries of Asia, and between the region and the global economy, be

effected by increased and fierce competition for dwindling natural resources? How does

a shift to a “green growth” paradigm work in pan-Asia?

Related Resources:

“These 20 Cities Have the Most to Lose from Rising Sea Levels,” The Washington Post, August 20,

2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/20/these-20-cities-have-the-

most-to-lose-from-rising-sea-levels/

Environment and Sustainability

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

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Wheeler, David. “Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change: Implications for Adaptation

Assistance”. Working Paper 240. January 2011. Washington, DC: Center for Global Developments

http://www.cgdev.org/files/1424759_file_Wheeler_Quantifying_Vulnerability_FINAL.pdf

Education for Sustainable Development

Description: Agenda 21, the official document of the 1992 Earth Summit, identified

many paths to sustainability – from technology transfer to sustainable agriculture,

forestry, and production techniques. Key among these is the emphasis on education for

sustainable development. While not a singular prescription for ensuring a more

sustainable future, education is seen as an essential foundation for all other efforts

aimed at promoting sustainability. The years 2005-2014 have been designated as the

United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). Member

countries and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) seek to mobilize world educational resources to help promote a more

sustainable future. Launched in Nagoya, Japan, in June 2005, the Asia-Pacific regional

DESD implementation strategy was built on the results of a situational analysis of

education for sustainable development within the region. Participating countries are

developing clear thematic national priorities while building the necessary governmental

and financial infrastructure needed to implement and maintain education for

sustainable development initiatives.

Related Resources:

UNESCO (2009). ESD currents: changing perspectives from the Asia-Pacific region. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001811/181159e.pdf

UNESCO (2008). ESD on the move: national and sub-regional ESD initiatives in the Asia-Pacific Region. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001621/162152e.pdf

UNESCO (2005). Asia-Pacific DESD Regional Strategy. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. Available at: http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/esd/documents/esd_publications/working-paper.pdf

UNESCO (2005). A Situational Analysis of Education for Sustainable Development in the Asia-Pacific Region. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. http://www.unescobkk.org/education/esd/un-decade-of-esd/a-situational-analysis-of-esd-in-the-asia-pacific-region/

Environment and Sustainability

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Food Security in Pan-Asia

Description: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and

economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs

and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” – Food and Agricultural

Organization of the United Nations.

The World Food Programme reports

in 2014, about two-thirds of the

world’s hungry – around 578 million

people – can be found in the Asia and

the Pacific region. Overpopulation

(China and India), failed governance

(Syria), scarce resources (Yemen), and

structural issues in the global trade

regime (Fiji) combine to impact the

ability of countries within pan-Asia to

meet food security needs. How

countries in the region meet these

needs has significant implications not only for the health and well-being of their citizens,

but for the stability of both regional and global relations in the future.

Related Resources:

Food Security Statistics. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/en/

Hunger Map 2014. World Food Programme. http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp268726.pdf

Prevalence of Undernourishment (% of Population), 2010-2014. The World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SN.ITK.DEFC.ZS

Environment and Sustainability

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Thailand. Copyright:

CC-BY-SA-3.0 Milei.vencel

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Other Useful Resources

IU Centers and Programs Involved with the Study of Pan-Asia

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute:

o http://www.iub.edu/~panasia/

East Asian Studies Center (EASC):

o http://www.iu.edu/~easc/

Indiana University Chinese Flagship Center:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~flagship/

Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business (RCCPB):

o http://www.indiana.edu/~rccpb/

Center for the Study of the Middle East:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~csme/

Center for Languages of the Central Asian Regions (CelCAR):

o http://iub.edu/~celcar/main.php

Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~iaunrc/

Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~srifias/

Dhar India Studies Program:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/

Islamic Studies Program:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~islmprog/

Borns Jewish Studies Program:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~jsp/index.shtml

Southeast Asian and ASEAN Studies

o http://seas.indiana.edu/

Center for the Study of Global Change:

o http://www.indiana.edu/~global/

Institute for International Business: o http://kelley.iu.edu/ciber/

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Pan-Asia at a Glance

The ANU-IU Pan Asia Institute

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