Global change and human rights: Asian perspectives in comparative context

A half-century of change has left South and Southeast Asia- like much of the rest of the world- profoundly altered. The world of the early 1940s was tom by global conflict; now it is marked by a combination of relative peace among the militarily most powerful, and uneasy peace within and between many countries of the “Third World.” The map differs markedly, comparing 1940 and 1990. Western empires crumbled in waves after the war. Colonies from Aden to Zanzibar have gained their independence- and often new names and boundaries. The term “Third World” is itself a post-World War II term, coined to reflect the dramatic changes of decolonization. International peace, decolonization, global commerce, and the surge of democratization bear witness to what Chandra Muzaffar, in a later chapter, calls “human rights consciousness.” A rapidly evolving system of international human rights law had clearly emerged by the early 1990s.