We are pleased to announce the publication of Asian Perspective, volume 49, number 4 (Fall 2025), published by Johns Hopkins University Press for the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of Kyungnam University and made available online at Project Muse (https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/55960).

This issue contains the Special Issue on Southeast Asia–Middle East Relations – Part 2, which examines the conceptual and practical complementarity of ‘transregionalism’ and ‘new bilateralism’ in Middle Eastern–Southeast Asian interactions. Part 2 includes articles on how issue-specific collaboration channels have been created, and how regional actors Türkiye and Malaysia engage in strategic partnerships by leveraging these collaborations.

Regular submission contributions to the issue include articles that discuss the politics of climate adaptation in Vietnam; territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Taiwan’s democracy; strategic and normative concerns surrounding the UN sanctions against North Korea; and mechanisms of political control in North Korea’s labor market. Our regular ‘Book Symposium’ features reviews and response on David M. McCourt’s The End of Engagement: America’s China and Russia Experts and US Strategy Since 1989 (Oxford University Press, 2024).

All back issues of the journal (from 1977 to 2025), including past special issues, are also available at Project Muse (https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/733).

Vol. 49, No. 4 FALL 2025

Special Issue on Southeast Asia–Middle East Relations – Part 2

Türkiye and Southeast Asia Relations:
Quasi-Transregionalism Through Humanitarian Aid and Education
Hatice Çelik and Yusuf Avcı

Reclaiming Peace: Malaysia’s Global Strategy to Combat Islamophobia
Abdul Razak Ahmad and Zikri Rosli

Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Towards Palestine in the Post-Independence Era:
An Assessment of Evolving Positions in the Barisan Nasional Government
Muslim Imran

Vietnam and Climate Change
Understanding the Politics of Vietnamese Climate Adaptation:
The Case of Dyke Policies in Ca Mau Province
Nguyen Minh Quang, James Borton, and Wil Hout

Territorial Disputes

The Territorial Disputes in the SCS and Taiwan’s Democracy Dividends
Serafettin Yilmaz and Fu-Kuo Liu

North Korea

Whose Economic Pain for What Security Gain?
The Strategic and Normative Concerns Surrounding the UN Sanctions on North Korea
Dong Jin Kim, Luca Coscieme, and Eunsuk Hong

From Coercive Distribution to Material Co-optation:
Changing Mechanisms of Political Control in North Korea’s Labor Market
Peter Ward, Andrei Lankov, and Jiyoung Kim

BOOK SYMPOSIUM

Book Symposium on David M. McCourt. 2024. The End of Engagement: America’s China and Russia Experts and US Strategy Since 1989. New York: Oxford University Press.
Robert A. Kapp
Franziska Barbara Keller
David M. McCourt

The current issue of the journal can be found at https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/55960