JAS at AAS: Contemplating the Cold War in Asia

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

The end of World War II ushered in a new era of global politics and local realities. For some nations in the west, this era was marked by relative—yet wary—calm; for much of Asia, the Cold War brought turmoil and political changes whose fallout continues to this day. This roundtable considers those implications and the myriad of forms they took.

Our goal is to hear from a variety of voices representing a variety of disciplines and geographic areas. Our roundtable will begin with a short presentation by Alfred McCoy, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with specialties in covert operations and the Philippines. His presentation will be based on his longer paper, written for this project, that addresses the questions "In what ways was the Cold War a distinctive period in Asia?" and "In what ways do those distinctions continue to shape politics and life in Asia?" His paper will be circulated to the remaining members of the roundtable in advance and excerpts will be available online, for the benefit of conference attendees. After McCoy's introductory presentation, the other members of the roundtable will comment on the paper through the lens of their own work and specific research interests.

Our other presenters include Carole McGranahan, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder who is a specialist on Tibet and the CIA; Shampa Biswas, Associate Professor of Politics at Whitman College who specializes in International Political Economy and South Asia; Tony Day, Associate Senior Fellow at ISEAS and specialist in Indonesia and Cultural Expression; and Antony Best, Associate Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, and specialist in Intelligence and Japan.

After each has made a brief presentation, we will open the floor to general discussion. Results of this roundtable will be published in the November issue of the JAS.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing

Session Organizer

• Jennifer Munger, Journal of Asian Studies

Discussants

• Alfred McCoy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Carole McGranahan, University of Colorado Boulder

• Shampa Biswas, Whitman College

• Tony Day, Yale-NUS College

• Jodi Kim, University of California, Riverside