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This book explains the continuity of economic openness using India as a case study. Arguing that open-economy policies in India were made, justified, and continued on the basis of the idea of openness much more than its tangible effect, it explains what sustained the idea of openness, what philosophy, interpretations of history, and types of rhetoric gave it support, justification, and persuasive force.

This book explains the continuity of economic openness using India as a case study. Arguing that open-economy policies in India were made, justified, and continued on the basis of the idea of openness much more than its tangible effect, it explains what sustained the idea of openness, what philosophy, interpretations of history, and types of rhetoric gave it support, justification, and persuasive force

Stints in power have been occasions to wipe out opponents, justice has meant vengeance, and egregious abuses have been legalized through immunity.

Recent elections have reestablished procedural democracy in Bangladesh. An alliance led by the center-left Awami League defeated a nationalist-Islamist coalition by a landslide. Democratic consolidation will depend on the new government's ability to deliver basic justice and security, which had deteriorated alarmingly since 2001 under a corrupt and semiauthoritarian government that gave Islamist extremists a free reign in an otherwise moderate country and eventually prompted a military takeover. Despite pressing economic needs, the government will now need to invest in rebuilding state and democratic institutions to reduce the lingering threats of extremism and authoritarianism.

Analysis of Myanmar's official and unofficial trade suggests that the material bases of independent political power have weakened. Concentration of commercial influence in conjunction with Western trade sanctions has curtailed the potential spread of an independent trading class. Declining trade exposure has also diluted the political power of agriculture, Burma's traditional mainstay, to sustain challenges to the regime.