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The Scytho-Siberian ‘animal style’ encapsulates a broad artistic tradition, which was widespread across the Eurasian Steppe in the first millennium BC, but the scarcity of secure contexts limits the exploration of temporal and regional trends. Here, the authors present animal-style items excavated from a late-ninth-century BC kurgan, Tunnug 1, in Tuva Republic. The limited range of animals and the utilitarian associations of the artefacts suggest a narrow symbolic focus for early Scythian art, yet stylistic diversity evidences the co-operation of multiple social groups in the construction and funerary ritual activities of monumental burial mounds in the Siberian Valley of the Kings.
The Mongol Empire became a chief destination for European travellers in a very specific moment of the medieval period, roughly framed by two events: Ögedei Khan’s European campaign of 1240–1241, and the formal fall of the last Yuan Mongolian emperor in 1368, which marked the takeover of the Chinese Ming dynasty and the opening of a new social and political paradigm in Asia. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Mongol rule brought about an unprecedented geopolitical stability across Eurasia, traditionally referred to by historians as Pax Mongolica. The general safety of the roads and the relatively smooth administrative system of the Mongol khanates allowed for a productive period of economic and cultural interconnections between Europe and the Far East, whose protagonists were traders, diplomats, missionaries, and adventurers. While merchants exploited the safety of the Silk Road to reach territories both within and beyond the Mongol area, the Mongol Empire was the express destination of several diplomatic and missionary expeditions, carried out by Franciscan and Dominican friars.
Starting in 1325, Ibn Battuta set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Taking advantage of the routes opened up by the spread of Islam from one end to the other of the eastern hemisphere, he then travelled twenty-nine years, tracing the contours of Afro Eurasia, from North Africa to the China Sea and back. Ibn Battuta swears early in his journeys to travel the world without ever repeating a single route (2: 283; 191). and he undertook journeys three times the extent of Marco Polo’s, totalling around 75,000 miles. Ibn Battuta’s adult years devoted to journeying also involved him learning many scholarly livelihoods, and taking many forms of training and service, of which the final one, travel writer, might be considered the consummation. I will argue that Ibn Battuta was able to perform himself as a professional traveller-author of such extensive outreach because he employs extraordinary tactics at particular thresholds, essentially becoming his own passport by cultivating, adopting, or pretending to a range of roles that will secure admission. This gave him unusual, but not complete access to many thresholds otherwise rarely crossed.
Modernity has been the idée fixe of law and society scholarship from the very beginning. It is impossible to imagine our field without its roots in the rather different theories of Weber, Marx, and Durkheim about the defining characteristics of a modern legal system; and their theories still resonate in the work of 21st-century researchers. Moreover, pre-modern law and post-modern law, as their names suggest, are also defined and analysed by law and society scholars in relation to the central concept of modernity. Modernity and its pre- and post-incarnations are the very bedrock of the law and society field.
Using the World Value Survey from Wave 2 (1989–1993) to Wave 7 (2017–2020), Study 1 demonstrates that individuals in individualistic regions exhibit more anti-competition attitudes compared to those in collectivist regions. Additionally, individuals in authoritarian, socialist, and collectivist Asian regions show the highest level of pro-competition attitudes, followed by those in democratic, capitalist, and individualistic Western regions and those in democratic, capitalist, and collectivist Asian regions. Study 2 reveals that competition is more likely to be endorsed by individuals who prioritize the individual’s responsibility over the government’s responsibility, value private ownership of businesses over government ownership of businesses, emphasize hard work for success, and prefer income incentives over income equality. Moreover, individuals with higher levels of materialism and self-determination are also inclined to endorse competition. Notably, variations exist in the relationship between individual difference variables and attitudes toward competition among the regions.
The Asia region (including the Indo-Pacific region) is critically important for Australia’s long-term future as people-to-people links through education and cultural exchange, migration, business, trade, defence and tourism continue to expand and Australia’s relationship with the countries of the region evolves. Referred to as the ‘Asia priority’, the Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia cross-curriculum priority provides opportunities for learners to investigate, understand and recognise the diversity within and between the peoples and countries of the Asia region as well as the diversity within communities in Australia. Referred to as ‘Asia literacy’, and more recently as ‘Asia capability’, this combination of knowledge, understanding and skills prepares learners for the challenges of living, studying and working in the region and in global contexts. This chapter offers strategies for teaching and learning about and from the diverse peoples and cultures of the region in ways that go beyond the instrumentalism of national economic and security interests in Asia. Learners can be encouraged to recognise commonalities and differences as well as appreciate and empathise with the lived experiences of diverse peoples and local communities in Asia and in Australia.
Almost 50 years have passed since Sartori introduced to the world one of the most famous innovations in the history of political science: a new party systems typology. Despite many criticisms and refinements since then, Sartori's typology still constitutes, as stated by Peter Mair in 1990, “the most effective and exhaustive framework within which to contrast the properties of different party systems”. In the current research note, and taking into consideration that previous typologies have not yet been that successful, we propose a new classification of party systems – which not only embeds the notion of polarization into the typology, but also allows us to populate the “polarized pluralist” type beyond Sartori’s “centre-based” (Italian) model – in Asia, a continent almost completely ignored by Sartori in his seminal work. Using an original dataset that includes the most important characteristics of party systems in the region and building on Sartori's original conceptualization, we examine to what extent party systems in Asian democracies, both contemporary (Bhutan, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan) and historical (Bangladesh 1991–2006, Kyrgyzstan 2010–2020, Myanmar 2015–2020 and Thailand 1992–2013), have changed. Our discussion of a new party system typology is particularly relevant and important to Asia, as its many new democracies still need to shift from plurality electoral rules adopted during the early post-independence periods to more mature, power-dispersing political institutions that accommodate their rich ethnic and religious diversity, as it happened in Europe after the World Wars.
The book documents, analyses and makes accessible the law and policy related to illicit drugs in various Asian jurisdictions. The focus is specifically on the measures undertaken in Asia to combat drug offences and, in particular, the use of the death penalty for such offences. It will enhance the ability of public policy and law makers, non-governmental organisations and the general population to engage in the debate on the appropriate approach towards illicit drugs. A wide range of Asian jurisdictions, particularly in Southeast Asia, have been intentionally selected to show a diversity of approaches in the 'war on drugs' debate. The areas examined include developments in the law and policy relating to illicit drugs; use of criminal law measures to combat drug-related offences; motivations of drug offenders; public support for punitive punishments; structure of the laws; procedural rights of accused persons; mandatory/discretionary sentencing and use of the death penalty.
The Australian Curriculum’s three cross-curriculum priorities are intended to give global, national, and local perspectives, providing students with the tools and language to be able to understand the world in which they live and to consider the future world they could inhabit.Within the Australian Curriculum, three cross-curriculum priorities have been defined: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures; Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia; and Sustainability. These three cross-curriculum priorities are not intended to be taught as separate Learning Areas; instead, they are about exploring relationships between subjects. They offer learning opportunities to add depth and richness to student learning in specific discipline content at the same time as developing knowledge, understanding and skills relating to the three priorities.
Large-scale field investigation in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang identified 108 Palaeolithic/microlithic surface findspots. Pulei Cave reveals the first well-preserved spelean sediment record containing Upper Palaeolithic cultural remains in eastern Xinjiang, dating from c. 45–43 ka BP.
This article challenges the OECD’s dominant downstream-centric framework on plastic pollution by drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. While OECD policies emphasize mismanaged waste and littering in low- and middle-income countries as primary causes of plastic leakage, the authors argue this perspective obscures the structural role of upstream plastic production, driven largely by petrochemical interests in the Global North. Through field data, the article reveals how “leaky” infrastructures – such as incineration plants in India, public–private waste partnerships in Indonesia and grassroots upcycling in the Philippines – fail to contain plastic waste, often exacerbating pollution and exposing communities to toxic emissions and microplastics. The study introduces a conceptual framework of “material and structural leakiness,” emphasizing how plastics and the infrastructures designed to manage them are inherently porous. It critiques the notion of shared responsibility, highlighting how it disproportionately burdens marginalized communities. The authors call for a paradigm shift away from recycling and clean-up as core solutions, advocating instead for upstream interventions like production caps and chemical regulation. The article underscores that without legally binding global commitments to reduce virgin plastic production, the toxic burden of plastic pollution will continue to fall on the most vulnerable populations.
Collaboration is both a process and an outcome. Collaboration is based on the idea that interactions between participants with a common goal, working together as partnerships and sharing resources, can solve complex or “wicked” problems that are not possible to solve in isolation. Collaboration may be simple, occurring between individuals, or more complex interorganizational arrangements across sectors, with the life cycle and size of the collaboration determined by the issue at hand. HTA collaborations may involve a wide range of stakeholders, including HTA agencies at the national, regional, or global level, academia, government (including regulatory authorities), industry, clinicians, providers, and patient organizations. Regardless of the number or type of participants, collaborations need a shared understanding of the common goal, an agreement on aims, and a commitment to shared solutions.
Industry and agency members of the Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) Asia Policy Forum (APF) met in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2024 for open discussions on how to facilitate and improve the collaborative process between all stakeholders in the health system, including government, HTA agencies, industry, academia, clinicians, as well as patients. Over the three days, these discussions identified some of the risks and obstacles to collaboration in the region, how to develop and use collaboration better, as well as articulating the value and benefits of collaboration both in the region and globally.
Over 60 years have passed since the initiation of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is widely accepted among drug policy experts that the global war on illicit drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Various countries have moved away from a drug policy based on criminal punishment to a harm reduction approach - but others continue to pursue a punitive drug policy, including the use of the death penalty for drug-related activities. Despite the UN Human Rights Committee taking the position that the death penalty is only permissible for the ‘most serious crimes’, defined as intentional killing, 34 countries retain the death penalty for a range of drug offences. This chapter outlines the change in drug policy at the UN level as well as developments at the country level.
Following the recent report of strongyloidiasis caused by Strongyloides fuelleborni within a semi-captive colony of baboons in a UK safari park, we investigated the genetic relationships of this isolate with other Strongyloides isolates across the world. Whole-genome sequencing data were generated with later phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and nuclear ribosomal 18S sequences against 300 published Strongyloides reference genotypes. The putative African origin of the UK S. fuelleborni was confirmed and full-length mt genome sequences were assembled to facilitate a more detailed phylogenetic analysis of 14 mt coding regions against all available Strongyloides species. Our analyses demonstrated that the UK isolate represented a novel African lineage not previously described. Additional complete mt genomes were assembled for several individual UK safari park worms to reveal a slightly altered mt genome gene arrangement, allowing clear separation from Asian S. fuelleborni. Furthermore, these UK worms possessed expanded intergenic regions of unknown function that increase their mt genome size to approximately 24 kilobases (kb) as compared with some 16 kb for Asian S. fuelleborni; this may have arisen from unique populational founder and genetic drift effects set within the peculiar mixed species baboon and drill ancestry of this semi-captive primate colony. A maximum likelihood phylogeny constructed from 14 mt coding regions also supported an evolutionary distinction between Asian and African S. fuelleborni.
This assessment aimed to identify the degree and parameters of demand for support from HTAsiaLink, the Asia regional health technology assessment (HTA) hub, for HTA ecosystem development.
Methods
A sequential, exploratory, mixed-method design was implemented, starting with a literature review to define the Asia region’s HTA landscape. Then an online survey was sent to 125 Asia-focused HTA practitioners and support organizations to obtain their thoughts on HTA development needs and how a regional hub could serve them. Finally, fifty purposively selected key informants representing government HTA agencies in Asia, funding partner organizations, philanthropic foundations, global HTA support, and regional HTA hub organizations were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Nineteen Asian countries and territories were represented in documents reviewed. Twenty-five recipients from ten Asian countries and territories responded to the survey, and twenty-eight individuals from eight Asian countries and territories plus eight international organizations participated in interviews.
Results
Identified needs include support to fill HTA human resources gaps, strengthen the capacity of the existing HTA workforce, produce HTA public goods, improve harmonization within and across country systems, and strengthen political will. Other important considerations include the need to adapt the hub’s purpose to an expanding role and adopt sustainable financing approaches accordingly.
Conclusion
Demand for an HTA hub in Asia is high, including to support HTA technical, deliberative processes, and institutional capacity strengthening. Findings underscore the importance of both conducting HTAs and fostering demand for HTA output. HTAsiaLink is recognized as well-positioned to play an expanded support role to address these needs.
This chapter explores Percy Shelley’s reception and translation history outside Europe and Anglo-America. Its assemblage of voices includes artists and critics from around the world that attest to the breadth and depth of Shelley’s readership in the two centuries since his death. The chapter advances geographically by region, highlighting in large part the varied ways that Shelley has specifically influenced authors of colour throughout the Global South.
This chapter is a study of India’s involvement in the Korean War, particularly in the later stages of that war and in bringing it to a close through the successful negotiation of an armistice agreement. The period under review is 1950–1953. The Korean War is an insightful case study because it combines a study of the beginnings of Indian diplomacy at the UN with Nehru’s idea of Asia.
Although there is a clear rise in academic interest in region formation, theoretical approaches to the topic vary greatly, stemming from geopolitical identifications of objective regional boundaries, through functionalist ideas of regional linkages, to post-structuralist ideas about fluid regional belonging. This article provides a typology of region formation approaches, based on the ontological assumptions of its authors. The typology is based on two main debates within contemporary international relations ontology: regarding the basic components of reality (material vs. ideational) and regarding the status of theories (transfactual vs. phenomenalist). The presented matrix provides an ideal-typical position for each of these four iterations and illustrates its viability in the case of region formation literature on the Asia-Pacific. Doing so, the text contributes to (meta) theoretical discussions of how regions are formed while at the same time illustrating the often-overlooked stories of region formation.
In 2022, the Centre for Global South Asia (CGSA) at Royal Holloway University of London developed a small research project entitled ‘Exhibit Asia’. The aim was to explore the use of exhibitions in nation-making in postcolonial South and East Asia in contrast to the scholarly preoccupation with investigating the region’s history of museums and exhibitions primarily in a colonial context. Its academic outcomes were to be a conference and related publication; but we also wanted our research to be relevant to our students. The resulting intervention in the teaching and learning of history took the form of a curatorial fellowship for an international cohort of ten students from Taiwan, Japan, India, Pakistan and the UK, leading to a co-curated online exhibition. The first section of this article sets out the development, design and delivery of the fellowship and discusses the viability and relevance of such projects. The subsequent three sections are co-authored by several of the participating students. They outline their methods, reflections and learnings; share their insights on the role of exhibitions in perceptions of Asia in the UK today; and analyse responses to ‘Tea and Tigers’, the online exhibition that was the outcome of the fellowship.
Eight Acheulean sites are located in an under-researched ecological setting within the hilly terrain of the Upper Son Valley, India. A total of 1348 Acheulean artefacts have been identified across these sites, primarily preserved in high-energy depositional contexts, providing insights into the Pleistocene environment of hominin occupation and available lithic technology.