This anthology presents readings on environmental law and policy that direct the reader to the rich legal heritage, culture, and traditions of selected Asian nations, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, The People's Republic of China, and the nations of Southeast Asia. The United States is included to conceptualize the comparative study and to represent a benchmark nation from which many others have borrowed.

This anthology is compiled, edited, and annotated within a comparative law framework that sets it apart from the many collections on the related subject of "international" environmental law. Editors Bolla and McDorman include scholarship from many non-Western authors who take the rule-of-law principle beyond mere textual comparisons.

These readings begin with materials fundamental to comparative law as a discipline and end with current discussions on trade and the environment. The organization of this volume is such that the reader will appreciate the influences of Western legal culture on indigenous approaches used by Asian nations struggling to sustain, govern, and responsibly use the environment.