The geographic importance of the Straits of Malacca
Monsoonal circulation and revolutions in shipping and navigation
Economic-geographic concepts of long-distance trade, spatial duopoly, and network structures
Concepts and perspectives from political economy
Practical incentives and the organization of early long-distance trade
Asian-European trading systems in the Greco-Roman era : the beginnings of monsoon trade
Monsoon trade in the early fifteenth century : the Empire of Melaka (Malacca) and its precursors
The Portuguese trading system in monsoon Asia
The Dutch trading system and Hollands' ascendancy in the Straits of Malacca
The British East India Company trading system
Contemporary trading systems : Japan, oil, and the Straits of Malacca
Controlling transit trade : the entrepot of Melaka
The founding of British Penang (Pulau Pinang)
The rise of Singapore as a global entrepot
Changing local hinterlands and products in the straits region : Sumatran trade
Local trader hinterlands and products on the Malay coast of the straits
Natural hazards and navigation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore
Piracy in the Straits of Malacca and surrounding seas
Twentieth-century military conflicts in the straits area
Traffic congestion, hazardous cargoes, and pollution in the straits in the contemporary period
Twenty-first-century trade and globalization : the Asia-Pacific region
Emerging roles of the straits in global and regional commerce
Conclusion.