From accelerating giant, China to still-slumbering Laos; from fun-pursuing Thailand to post-bubble Japan, East Asian societies display an irrepressible energy and cultural depth that can be an inspiration to all. A seasoned writer on the East Asian scene, Roy Garner offers a personal perspective on the latest trends in lifestyles and fashions across this immensely diverse and rapidly evolving region.

This book traces the impact of the global financial crisis on East Asia, and the way that key regional states responded to the crisis. It considers the extent to which the region is decoupling from the global economy (or the West), the impact of crises on the definition of "region", and the effectiveness and functioning of regional institutions and governance mechanisms (including environmental governance). A key focus of the book is the increasing legitimacy of statist alternatives to (neo)liberal development strategies and modes of governance – or perhaps more correctly, the extent to which the legitimacy of "western" norms and practices have been delegitimized by the crisis. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics