The Conflicts and Conflict Management in SAARC

The mechanism created by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) excludes the discussions on bilateral and contentious issues which is said to be the main hurdle in the SAARC to take off. Despite similarities in the South Asian member countries, e.g. cultural, linguistic, and historical, they have not yet been able to evolve cooperative environment and their relations are characterised by varying conflicts. Keeping with the background nominal progress that has been made by SAARC, it will be wise to review the inter-state conflicts which are halting the ways of the South Asian progress. The present study surveys the nature of interstate conflict among SAARC members and their impact on regional cooperation. It also explores various modes of conflict management and conflict resolution. It offers conflict management and multi-track diplomacy as keys to peace in the South Asian region and progress for SAARC.

The osteology of Shaochilong maortuensis, a carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Asia

Large-bodied theropod dinosaurs from the Early-mid Cretaceous of the northern continents (Laurasia) are poorly known. One of the most complete and intriguing theropods from this interval is Shaochilong maortuensis Hu, 1964 from the Turonian (< 92 Ma) Ulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. The phylogenetic placement of Shaochilong has long been a subject of debate, as it has been referred to several disparate theropod groups (e.g., Megalosauridae, Allosauridae, Tyrannosauroidea, Maniraptora). In a recent taxonomic reassessment, Shaochilong was identified as the first Asian member of Carcharodontosauridae, a clade of allosauroid theropods that was once thought to be restricted to Gondwana and includes some of the largest terrestrial predators to ever live. However, the characters supporting such a placement were only briefly discussed, and a full anatomical description of Shaochilong has yet to be presented. We provide a detailed osteological description of the lectotype and paralectotype series, show that Shaochilong is a small-bodied and short-snouted carcharodontosaurid, and highlight numerous cranial features shared with other carcharodontosaurids. We argue that the vicariant hypothesis of allosauroid biogeography, in which lineages split in concert with the fragmentation of Pangaea, is poorly supported. Finally, large-scale patterns of theropod evolution and faunal replacement are discussed, and it is argued that allosauroids persisted as large-bodied predators later in the Cretaceous than previously thought.

Asian Economic Crisis, Foreign Direct Investment and Stabilized Economic Growth: Crisis Revisited and Implications for APEC Member Ecomomies

The Asian economic crisis of 1997 gives us a valuable lesson that foreign direct investment (FDI) can play a more important role in promoting economic stability than other capital flows such as bank lending and portfolio equity investment. This paper explains the relationships between FDI and the crisis. Specifically, it studies the role of FDI in stable economic growth. Recent developments of inward FDI policies by the Asian member economies of APEC are then analyzed, after which they are categorized into four groups within a framework that is developed in this paper. Some important, generalized implications for FDI policies are also provided.

Southeast Asian Defense Treaty Organization

The third annual meeting of the Council of the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) was held in Canberra, Australia March 11–13, 1957, under the chairmanship of R. G. Casey, Minister for External Affairs of Australia. The meeting was attended by representatives of Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and United States. In the communiqué issued at the close of the session, the Council stated that its plans to consolidate and enhance its previous progress provided for 1) maintenance of the defensive capacity of the treaty members to deal effectively with armed aggression, 2) extension of the program to detect, appraise, expose and combat subversion directed from without, and 3) development of the economic resources of the treaty members, particularly the Asian member states, by measures inside and outside SEATO.