Description: In the South Asia-Pacific region today, the pace of change is dizzying: nations struggle to maintain law and order while they mesh their traditional systems with modern, democratic parliamentary norms. Falling into this category are the island nations of Indonesia and Melanesia, which occupy important strategic locations relative to our ally, Australia, and astride critical sea lines of communication.Against this background of change, Indonesia's power and influence have increased, and Papua New Guinea (the leading Melanesian state) has begun to tap its rich mineral reserves. Combining extensive research with his long experience in the region, Ambassador Paul Gardner examines the traditional cultures of the Indonesian and Melanesian peoples who are striving to adapt to modern market economies. He describes the idiosyncratic ways by which both cultures, with marked flair, have modernized their economies.In this scholarly analysis, Gardner chronicles the difficulties, pitfalls, and triumphs of two peoples in transition to the modern world. Elsewhere in the world, other nations are experimenting in other ways with the market system, reminding us of the flexibility of that system.

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