Edited by Chiyuki Aoi & Yee-Kuang Heng, Asia-Pacific Nations in International Peace Support and Stability Missions, Palgrave Macmillan, March 2014

The last decade has seen global attention diverted from the West to the East, and from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region. This eastward shift is widely recognized as the result of the reshuffle of the economic dynamics. Emerging political and economic powers are not only taking more shares in the global market and gaining a big say in international politics, but start to assume more responsibilities for the good of the whole world.

Peace support and stability missions have become fields where these Asia-Pacific countries are growing to be not only stakeholders, but patrons. Since this undertaking is crucial to the future of the global peace, a profound survey of these countries' capabilities to contribute to peacekeeping missions is badly needed.

Edited by Chiyuki Aoi, professor of international politics at the Tokyo-based Aoyama Gakuin University, and Yee-Kuang Heng, associate professor of international relations and assistant dean at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Asia-Pacific Nations in International Peace Support and Stability Missions offers cross-regional comparison and analysis of the capabilities, constraints and policies of selected countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The book is a collection of 10 top-notch scholars' explorations on this issue. Eight representative countries, including emerging powers like China and Indonesia and traditional stakeholders such as Japan and Australia, have been selected to provide a detailed study on how different countries, whose roles in this region are highly varied, can make a difference in managing global peace and security.

The framework of case study makes the book very neatly organized. Importantly, in the last chapter "Analyzing Trends and Future Directions," both editors offer a general picture based on the other writers' country-to-country analysis, showing to the readers the significance and necessity of shifting more attention to exploring peace contributions and security management by the countries in this region.

Not only does the book analyze the history and current status of the peace operations undertaken by these selected countries, it also sheds light on the doctrines, institutions and mode of deployments in order to make a clear assessment of whether these countries are prepared and able to contribute to the peace and stability missions meaningfully.

In each chapter, based on the concrete development of a country's peace operations capability, the book insists on a narrative that keeps a close eye on the strengths, weaknesses, emerging trends and policy implications of different countries.

Such a detailed and fact-oriented model of analysis guarantees that the readers can get an objective and accurate picture of the real developments and potentials of these countries in this term.

This book will interest scholars and decision-makers who are keen on observing the trends and prospects of peace and stability operations in the Asia-Pacific region.