Asian Studies Commons^™

Trade Remedies And Export Deflection: Indonesia’S Mozambique Pta In Southern Africa, Ilham Dary Athallah, Hayara Khairia, Tsabita Husna

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

The Indonesia–Mozambique Preferential Trade Agreement (IM-PTA), signed in 2019 and in force since 6 June 2022, is Indonesia’s first bilateral trade agreement with an African state. This article asks how the agreement facilitates the diversification of Indonesian paper exports under trade-remedy pressure and how far Mozambique can function as a gateway to Southern Africa. A qualitative case study and process-tracing design covering 2010–2023 compares the treaty, implementing regulations, trade disputes, official negotiating agendas, and HS 48 (paper articles) export data. The findings show that the IM-PTA’s tariff concessions and rules of origin reduce entry costs in Mozambique and are consistent …

Localising Norms Of Moderate Islam: Lessons From Nahdlatul Ulama In Hong Kong And The United Kingdom, Rumadi Ahmad, Idris Masudi, Muh Afit Khomsani

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article examines how Nahdlatul Ulama localises moderate Islamic values abroad through its special branches (Pengurus Cabang Istimewa, PCI) in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Drawing on Acharya’s theory of norm localisation, it asks how PCI NU in each setting frames the Aswaja values of tasamuh (tolerance), tawassuth (moderation), and tawazun (balance), and how these values condition and account for the differences. The study uses a qualitative comparative design based on in-depth interviews with PCI NU leaders and a literature study. In Hong Kong, where members are mostly Indonesian migrant workers in a semi-authoritarian setting, the organisation operates …

Horticultural Diplomacy: A Framework For Growing Culturally Aware Gardeners, Stephen Stresow-Cortez, Stephen Reiners, Ashley Miller Helmholdt

Journal of Extension

Derived from person-to-person diplomacy models, a ``horticultural diplomacy'' framework was implemented in a statewide vegetable variety trial program for two seasons to introduce Master Gardeners to diverse crops and cultures. Scaffolding learning with relevant recipes, bed groupings, community tasting events, and collecting community (citizen) science data helped participants build garden skills, gain a greater appreciation for other cultures, and inform new educational materials. Horticultural diplomacy is part of a deliberate effort aimed at growing food and building understanding among (primarily White) volunteers. The techniques that helped make this program successful, adaptable to other garden programs, and aspects that require improvements …

Spirituality And Resilience Among Survivors Of Child Sex Trafficking: A Ten-Year Longitudinal Study In Cambodia, Glenn M. Miles, Lim Vanntheary, Nhanh Chantha

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Sex trafficking causes profound trauma requiring comprehensive healing. While spirituality is central in many survivors’ lives, it remains under-researched. In Cambodia, Christian organisations provide most aftercare despite 93-97% Buddhist population, creating complex religious dynamics. This study examined how spirituality affects trauma recovery, the factors that support or hinder spiritual practice, and how religious identity is negotiated over time. Butterfly Longitudinal Research project followed 128 sex trafficking survivors (80% female, 20% male, ages 6-30 at baseline) in Christian-founded aftercare programs throughout Cambodia, beginning 2010. A mixed-methods longitudinal design employed structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews 2-3 times annually over 10 years, …

Recovery And Resilience Of Survivors Of Sex Trafficking In Nepal, Bishnu Sapkota, Glenn M. Miles, Chitra B. Buthathoki

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This exploratory qualitative study examines how trafficking survivors in Nepalese rehabilitation centres perceive recovery and experience resilience within Nepal's specific socio-cultural context. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews with six female sex trafficking survivors in Bagmati Province rehabilitation centres and analysed them through Bronfenbrenner's socio-ecological framework under the themes such as Hindu purity concepts, caste discrimination, joint family dynamics, and non-governmental organization dependency which shape their recovery experiences. The findings of the study reveal recovery as gradual emotional stabilization and future orientation rather than complete healing. Survivors describe stigma in terms of religious purity/pollution binary, with Dalit participants experiencing compounded …

Cultural Humility In The Workplace: A Causal-Comparative Study Of Foreign And Local Hire Employees In International Education, Natalie A. Ortiz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cultural humility is recognized as a framework for fostering respectful relationships in culturally diverse workplaces. However, limited research has examined cultural humility within international education in regard to workplace dynamics and power imbalances that may exist between foreign and local hire educators. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine differences in perceived cultural humility levels between foreign and local hire employees in PreK-12^th grade private international schools in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The study also examined whether years of international educational experience and the number of international educational assignments influenced perceived cultural humility levels. Data …

Negotiating Plurality: Korean Catholic Funerals As Lived Religion, Jieun Han

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines Korean Catholic funeral rites through the lenses of ritual

guidebooks and lived religion, arguing that Catholic funerary practice in Korea

has emerged through sustained engagement with Confucian and Buddhist tradi-

tions as well as modern nationalism. Focusing on Catholic manuals such as the

Sangjang yesik [Rites for Mourning and Funerals] and related texts, it traces how

officially sanctioned liturgical forms coexist with, accommodate, and reinterpret

indigenous ritual logics surrounding mourning, burial, ancestor veneration, and

care for the dead. Rather than viewing Korean Catholic funerals as a simple

localization of Roman rites, the article conceptualizes them as a …

Editor's Introduction, Brent H. Otto S.J.

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Religious Visitors’ Spiritual Values And Their Relative Importance: Evidence From Chinese Buddhist Tourism Contexts, Zhiqing Wang, Keji Huang, Jiankang Zhang, Yunyun Fan, Ge Zhang

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Spiritual values are affected by diverse factors with different roles and influence daily life in various ways. Using Mount Jiuhua and Mount Putuo, two mountains in Mainland China with great importance in Buddhism, as examples, this study explores the specific dimensions of religious visitors’ spiritual values. Through a survey study, five factors of these spiritual values were extracted and their relative importance was measured. The identified factors were transcendence, general connectedness, inner balance, positive life direction and special religious feelings. According to factor importance analysis, these spiritual values can be categorised into three levels: fundamental, reflective and surpassing. This study …

From Disaster To Resilience: Developing Smart Settlements In The Himalayas, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s catastrophic 26 August 2026 Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flood should be understood not only as a humanitarian tragedy but also as a potentially major turning point in updating national settlement and reconstruction policy. Engineers and scientists have described the floods as a glacier–bedrock collapse that triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow. As per the live updates on September 7, 2026, the total death toll was 1,355, and 4,996 people were missing (The Hindu, 2026). Indian and Nepali rescuers worked urgently to locate and rescue people buried under hydropower tunnels, buildings, mud, and landslide debris.

UN News reported on September 3, …

From Himalayan Catastrophe To National Resilience: Lessons From The 2026 Bhote Koshi And Trishuli River Floods In Nepal, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

On the morning of 26 August 2026, the mountains above Nepal’s northern frontier delivered a disaster of almost unimaginable speed and scale. A massive mass of ice, rock, and sediment detached in the high Himalayan terrain near the Nepal–Tibet border, descended roughly 1,200 metres, interacted with the Lhende Khola system, and generated a debris-rich flood that surged through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, destroying settlements, markets, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, and an international border crossing and transforming them into fields of mud, boulders, and wreckage within minutes (ICIMOD, 2026b; Reuters, 2026a). Satellite analysis indicates that a substantial section …

Notes For The Contributors, Space & Defense

Space and Defense

No abstract provided.

The Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence In A New Era Of Great Power Competition, The 66th Annual Academy Assembly

Space and Defense

The 66th annual Academy Assembly brought together twenty-seven student delegates from civilian institutions and sister military service academies to discuss urgent issues in national affairs. This national student congress was held during March 3-5, 2026 and produced the following committee reports.

Critical Strategic Deterrence Questions For Today, Keith B. Payne

Space and Defense

r. Payne visited the U.S. Air Force Academy to offer keynote remarks at a national student congress, the 66th Academy Assembly, held during March 3-5,2026 and dedicated to the topic of the Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence in a New Era of Great Power Competition. Dr. Payne is co-founder of the National Institute for Public Policy, former Department Head at the Graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies, Missouri State University, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and former Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He has authored or co-authored over 230 published articles and 50 …

Death Of Battlefield Hide-And-Seek, Lily Cheatham

Space and Defense

For the past twenty years, the stealth regime defined military thinking, prioritizing technologies and tactics designed to evade enemy defense systems. Ensuring radar invisibility and maintaining information dominance have been the keys to survival and strategic advantage. On June 21-22, 2025, the United States conducted "Operation Midnight Hammer" against Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The principal strike package included seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, whose crews flew approximately 18 hours to reach the target area and roughly 36 hours and 13,000 miles round trip. The B-2s dropped 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow and Natanz, marking …