A book review from Asia Times that focuses on the new interactions between China , India , Japan , Russia , and the US .  While I have not read it, the book reviewed, is a compilation of Indian authors reviewing the conflicting trends within the various foreign policies of the nations most involved in Asian matters.  One quote lifted from the book sums it up: “Conflict remains part of the Asian scene, but it is now conditioned by a less confrontational milieu.”  At the moment I agree.  However, we never know when North Korea will become more problematic again, the Taiwan situation will literally explode, or if Japan may move to a more nationalistic stance again.  Asia is not the Middle East and is not nearly the tinderbox Central Europe was before the outbreak of World War I.  However, whenever relations are this complex, unexpected events can have unexpected consequences unforeseen by all of the participants.