This volume focuses on key issues and developments in human rights. It is based around an examination of the links between the evolving global human rights regime (GHRR) and the character and course of human rights in the world's most dynamic, complex and problematic region, that of the Asia Pacific.

Human rights are acquiring an increasingly prominent role on the world stage. These developments are addressed by an examination of the links between the evolving global human rights regime and the character and course of human rights in the world's most dynamic, complex and problematic region, that of the Asia Pacific.

'Globalization has carried the modernist moral agenda that underpins the burgeoning human rights industry onto the contested terrain of the traditional values of the Asian Pacific region. Close and Askew's important book offers accessible, non-legalistic insights into the complexities of the evolving relationship between the human rights agenda, regional cultural traditions and the growing influence of the political economy of the Asian Pacific region on the world stage.' Gwen Wallace, Emeritus Professor, University of Derby, UK 'By forcefully arguing for the importance of power and culture in understanding human rights in the Asia Pacific, Close and Askew make a timely contribution to current debates on human rights. An impressive, critical analysis from a global political economy perspective is complemented by an empirically rich account of a broad range of human rights matters. The book invites readers to contemplate an intensification of contests over human rights as the Asia Pacific further advances its political economy status on the world stage.' Dr Xu Xin, Harvard University, USA.