| Review of: | The United States in the Asia-Pacific since 1945 by Roger Buckley |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Anne L. Foster |
| Reviewed in: | Political Studies Review |
| Date accepted online: | 04/03/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 1, Issue 2, Pages 196-301 |
North America
Roger Buckley set himself a monumental task: to write a comprehensive, accessible and engaging history of US foreign relations with Pacific-Asia from 1945 to 2001. His unabashed commitment to political history, in which he prioritizes 'political and security considerations' (p. 2) over cultural or economic concerns, makes the task only slightly easier. Buckley succeeds in being engaging, and his intended audience of undergraduates and the general public will enjoy the colourful anecdotes and telling phrases. He seeks to be comprehensive by focusing in each of the chronologically ordered chapters on the most critical issues of those years. For example, in 1945-50 he focuses on the effects of the early Cold War, in 1950-53 on the Korean War, and in 1960-75 on the Vietnam War.
He did have to make choices, but his attempt to cover such a long time period for such an enormous part of the world and to provide insight into developments in Asia that shaped Asian understandings and choices, laudable as those goals are, means that key parts of the story are left out. Ironically, given the intended subject of the book, it is often the USA that is left out, whether in the early discussion of Indonesian struggles for independence (where the important role of the USA is never mentioned) or in discussion of the impact of the end of the Cold War in Asia (the USA is barely mentioned in the examination of Japan and China immediately after the Cold War). The USA does reappear when Buckley turns to Korea. For those who know or remember the broad outline of this subject, Buckley's book will be an enjoyable reminder of stories and developments since forgotten; for students new to the topic, the book will leave them with more questions than answers.