Pacific Affairs

Pacific Affairs (PA) [1] is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes academic research on contemporary political, economic, and social issues in Asia and the Pacific. The journal was founded in 1926 as the newsletter for the entirety of the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR). In May 1928, PA adopted its current name, and has been published continuously since. From 1934 to 1942, the journal was edited by Owen Lattimore, the pioneering scholar of Central Asian history, then William L. Holland.

The journal moved from the IPR headquarters in New York to the University of British Columbia [2] in Vancouver, Canada, in 1961. Pressure from Senator Joseph McCarthy led to the dissolution of the IPR in 1960. It is currently housed in the Institute of Asian Research [3] at the University of British Columbia.

The journal's executive committee is composed of an editor, associate editors (based on the following geographic regions: Asia General, China and Inner Asia, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia and the Pacific Islands) and members representing Simon Fraser University [4], University of Victoria [5], University of Northern British Columbia [6], and the Asia Pacific Foundation [7].

Ingenta is the electronic provider for Pacific Affairs' online subscriptions. Subscribers also have access to the entire contents of the journal from its inception in 1926 in JSTOR [8] with a four-year moving wall.

In addition to scholarly articles based on original research, the journal publishes "perspectives," which are shorter articles, and often groups articles with a common theme into special issues. Some recent themes include democratization and communication in Asia, contemporary Japan-North Korea relations, and East Asian cross-regional agreements.

Book Reviews[9]

PA publishes 40-50 book reviews in each issue, under the headings of Asia General; China and Inner Asia; Northeast Asia; South Asia; Southeast Asia; and Australasia and the Pacific Region. Books from social sciences and humanities disciplines are reviewed by reviewers who are invited by PA’s executive committee. The journal does not accept unsolicited book reviews.

In terms of chronological coverage, books that deal with topics before the 1860s are not reviewed unless there are explicit thematic or analytical links to contemporary affairs and/or theory.

References

• Remembering the Institute of Pacific Relations: The Memoirs of William L. Holland. Edited and Introduced by Paul F. Hooper. Tokyo: Ryukei Shyosha, 1995. (Available at the University of British Columbia Library) [10]
• JSTOR Website: www.jstor.org [[11]]