The 'economic miracle' of the Western Pacific is under threat from recent increases in population growth, energy demand and environmental degradation. In this wide ranging book, Alan Burnett assesses the economic and political prospects of the four groups of Western Pacific countries experiencing major environmental changes: Australasia, South Asia, Indo-China and North East Asia including China. The Western Pacific discusses the challenges facing the government as a consequence of population pressures and the degradation of forest, rural, industrial and urban environments. Alan Burnett concludes that recent literature on sustainable growth, including the Brundtland Report of 1987, appears little better than utopian as world population steadily rises towards eight billion. This instructive and illuminating book successfully bridges the areas of economic development, environmental studies and international relations in a powerful statement that will be essential reading for economists, political scientists and policy makers throughout the world.