This short foreword is an introduction both to the «Asia Maior» project – namely a project which has been going on for a quarter of century – and to the contents of the present volume, which is the latest – but, hopefully, not the last – offshoot of this project. At the end of November […]

Introduction Differently from the approach used in the previous essays on China in Asia Maior, concerned especially with domestic politics, we have chosen here to privilege some aspects of China-US relations in order to investigate Chinese domestic politics and political economy through such a prism. The reasons for this preference lie mostly in the growing centrality […]

Introduction Events in 2014 confirmed the centrality of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō in Japan’s political landscape, in line with the expectation of the previous year’s analysis.[2] Following the landmark Cabinet decision allowing the exercise of the right of collective self-defense, much-coveted by the Prime Minister, and the insistence on expansive monetary and fiscal measures under the […]

Premessa Il 2014, che avrebbe dovuto rappresentare la definitiva consacrazione della presidente sudcoreana Park Geun-hye, si è invece rivelato come uno spartiacque in negativo per la sua presidenza, complici alcuni disastri nazionali, fra cui la tragedia del traghetto Sewol. In seguito a questi disastri emergevano in maniera ancora più clamorosa radicate pratiche negative: corruzione, collusione […]

Premessa In un’era di crescenti tensioni geopolitiche a livello internazionale, nel 2014 l’Indonesia affrontava un vasto processo elettorale che, non senza ostacoli, si concludeva in aprile con l’elezione democratica del nuovo presidente della repubblica, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Per la prima volta, dalla fine del regime di Suharto, acquisiva la carica più importante dello stato una […]

Introduction In 2014, Malaysian politics were largely determined by the general election of the year before, in which Prime Minister Najib Razak’s governing alliance, the Barisan Nasional (National Front, BN), led by Najib Razak’s party, the United Malay National Organization (UMNO, or United Malays National Organisation), finally achieved a majority. Yet despite its victory, the BN faced some serious […]

Introduction In late 2013 and early 2014, a lengthy series of working class protests broke out in several Cambodian towns and violent clashes with the police were the order of the day. The most serious episode occurred during the demonstration on January 4, 2014, when four protesters were killed, a countless number injured, and 23 […]

Introduzione La fragile democrazia tailandese nel 2014 ha conosciuto il più triste degli epiloghi. Il 22 maggio l’esercito ha attuato un colpo di stato e ha preso la guida del paese, approfittando del vuoto di potere conseguente alla destituzione del primo ministro, la signora Yngluck Shinawatra, da parte della suprema corte. L’evento del 22 maggio […]

Introduzione: attesa e stagnazione Dal 2010, anno delle elezioni generali che hanno decretato la svolta riformatrice e il progressivo allontanamento dei militari dal potere assoluto, che detenevano da quasi cinquant’anni, i cambiamenti avvenuti sono stati tali da ridisegnare l’intero assetto politico, sociale, economico del Myanmar. Senza dubbio si è trattato di una svolta che ha […]

Preface 2014 opened in Bangladesh with the elections, held on 5thJanuary amidst unprecedented political violence which led to the killing of 29 people. The 2014 elections were recorded as the most violent in Bangladesh’s history.[1] Throughout 2014, the government of the re-elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina faced several challenges. Firstly, the political crisis, fuelled by […]

Introduction In India, the dominant event in the year 2014 was the 16th general election and its results, namely the resounding victory of the Narendra Modi-led BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the catastrophic defeat of the Indian National Congress (hereafter, the Congress). The Congress, which headed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), in power during the […]

Introduction In 2014, Nepal was headed towards a resolution of the problems that caused the political and constitutional impasse of 2012 and 2013. The first Constituent Assembly resolved on May 28, 2012, before drafting the new Constitution, to replace the interim Constitution of 2007. This brought the country to a political deadlock. In March 2013, […]

Introduzione Lo Sri Lanka ha visto, durante il 2014, il perdurare delle dinamiche che hanno caratterizzato lo scenario politico e sociale del paese dalla fine al conflitto civile, nel 2009. In particolare, il supremo potere politico ha continuato ad essere esercitato dal presidente Mahinda Rajapaksa (il cui vero nome è Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa). Eletto presidente […]

Dal dialogo con i militanti alla campagna militare nel Waziristan del nord I propositi di dialogo con il TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, alleanza di una dozzina di gruppi militanti operativi in Pakistan), con i quali il nuovo governo di Nawaz Sharif aveva iniziato il proprio mandato nel maggio del 2013, si erano scontrati con l’irrigidimento delle […]

Introduction In 2014 Afghanistan was dominated by the presidential election that led to the victory of Ashraf Ghani, after two successive terms in office by Hamid Karzai. Despite the ultimate success of the transition, the election has been marred by the same problems of fraud and ballot stuffing that characterised the previous polls. The declaration […]

Introduction Since his victorious presidential campaign back in 2011, Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev had pledged that Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy would be markedly pro-Russian, heralding a break with the small Central Asian republic’s post-independence multi-vector foreign policy. While this policy tous azimuts has eventually tired all foreign partners because of Bishkek’s unrelenting efforts at securing greater revenues in exchange […]

Introduction In 2014 Turkmenistan further enhanced its position in the regional political and economic chessboard, developing relations of cooperation with both Central Asian countries and non-regional countries, mainly interested in the Turkmen gas. Ashgabat’s support to the realization of regional infrastructures of transport – such as the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway – represents the main contribution of […]