| Summary/Abstract |
THOUGH SOME MAY HAVE APPROACHED the centenary of the outbreak of World War One with a certain superstitious foreboding, 2014 in Asia was a pretty good year. As Xi Jinping put it in his May 21 address to the CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia), ‘‘Asia today, though facing more risks and challenges, is still the most dynamic and promising region in the world.’’1 Economically, Asia remains the fastest growing region, averaging an estimated 6.1% GDP growth for the year, and the forecasting consensus predicts an even better next year. This is an impressive performance in the wake of the global 2009–13 slowdown and particularly the recent cooling of the Chinese locomotive. Politically, the headline for the year is democratic resilience, with relatively honest elections in Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and (jumping a few days into 2015) Sri Lanka. As for international security, on the other hand, it was a year of rising tensions: violent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma/Myanmar, India’s Assam, China’s Xinjiang; continuing confrontations over maritime boundaries in the South and East China Seas; and renewed fighting between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
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