In 1990, the Malaysian state of Johor—along with Singapore and the Indonesian island of Batam—launched the Growth Triangle to attract foreign direct investment. For Johor, this drive was very successful, transforming its economy and driving up income levels. Today, Johor is one of Malaysia’s “developed” states, housing large clusters of electrical and electronics, food processing, and furniture producing firms. While welcome, this structural transformation has also entailed important challenges and strategic choices. After three decades, Johor’s manufacture-for-export model is under question, as it faces increasing competition and flat-lining technological capabilities. In response, the state has sought to diversify its economy through strategic investments in new, mostly service-based activities. Yet, Johor retains pockets of excellence in traditional sectors that also require support and policy attention. The state’s economic transformation has also been accompanied by far-reaching political, social, and environmental change. Not least, Johor’s growing population has generated demand for affordable housing and put pressure on public services. The strain has been exacerbated by workers from other states and overseas. These demographic factors and large-scale projects have, in turn, put stress on the environment. These economic and social changes have also had political ramifications. While Johor is a bastion of two of the country’s oldest and most established political parties, the state’s large, urban and connected electorate has made it hospitable terrain for new political organisations. Beyond electoral politics, Johor is also the home of a powerful and influential royal family, with very specific ideas about its role in the state’s political life. Building on earlier work by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute on the Singapore-Johor-Riau Islands Cross-border Region, this book focuses on this important Malaysian state, as it deals with important domestic challenges on one hand and strives to engage with international markets on the other. “I have always felt that there are many more complementarities possible between Singapore and Johor. This would be to the benefit of both economies, but the political division between the two was just too great. The two economies lived adjacent but separate lives—Singapore looking out to the world and Johor looking north—until initiatives such as the Iskandar Malaysia development corridor began to change things significantly. The concern now is that the pendulum may have swung too much the other way, driven by the huge income and price differentials as well as Singapore’s global city status. Francis and Serina’s compilation is a welcomed attempt at understanding Johor in a much more comprehensive manner; not just its changing economy but how its politics and society have been impacted by these changes – which is a more endogenized view of economic integration.” — Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, former MP Balik Palau and Executive Director, Khazanah Nasional “Drawing on the expertise of internationally known specialists, this insightful collection explores the multiple ways in which Johor’s economic development has influenced the contemporary political scene, and the effects on local society and the environment. Skillfully edited and meticulously researched, Johor: Abode of Development? is not merely required reading for anyone interested in contemporary Malaysia, but will be of immense value to historians of the future.”—Barbara Watson Andaya, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawai’i

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Singapore gained independence in 1965, a city-state in a world of nation-states. Yet its long and complex history reaches much farther back. Blending modernity and tradition, ideologies and ethnicities, a peculiar set of factors make Singapore what it is today. In this thematic study of the island nation, Michael D. Barr proposes a new approach to understand this development. From the pre-colonial period through to the modern day, he traces the idea, the politics and the geography of Singapore over five centuries of rich history. In doing so he rejects the official narrative of the so-called 'Singapore Story'. Drawing on in-depth archival work and oral histories, Singapore: A Modern History is a work both for students of the country's history and politics, but also for any reader seeking to engage with this enigmatic and vastly successful nation.

Statehood in the early 21st century remains as much a central problem as it was in 1979 when the first edition of The Creation of States in International Law was published. As Rhodesia, Namibia, the South African Homelands and Taiwan then were subjects of acute concern, today governments, international organizations, and other institutions are seized of such matters as the membership of Cyprus in the European Union, application of the Geneva Conventions to Afghanistan, a final settlement for Kosovo, and, still, relations between China and Taiwan. All of these, and many other disputed situations, are inseparable from the nature of statehood and its application in practice. The remarkable increase in the number of States in the 20th century did not abate in the twenty five years following publication of James Crawford's landmark study, which was awarded the American Society of International Law Prize for Creative Scholarship in 1981. The independence of many small territories comprising the 'residue' of the European colonial empires alone accounts for a major increase in States since 1979; while the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the USSR in the early 1990s further augmented the ranks. With these developments, the practice of States and international organizations has developed by substantial measure in respect of self-determination, secession, succession, recognition, de-colonization, and several other fields. Addressing such questions as the unification of Germany, the status of Israel and Palestine, and the continuing pressure from non-State groups to attain statehood, even, in cases like Chechnya or Tibet, against the presumptive rights of existing States, James Crawford discusses the relation between statehood and recognition; the criteria for statehood, especially in view of evolving standards of democracy and human rights; and the application of such criteria in international organizations and between states. Also discussed are the mechanisms by which states have been created, including devolution and secession, international disposition by major powers or international organizations and the institutions established for Mandated, Trust, and Non-Self-Governing Territories. Combining a general argument as to the normative significance of statehood with analysis of numerous specific cases, this fully revised and expanded second edition gives a comprehensive account of the developments which have led to the birth of so many new states.

A biography of Malaysia's powerful Home Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. Includes facts about Malaysian and Singaporean history, as well as insights into the processes of decolonization and nation building.