Helen James holds appointments with the Research Schools of Pacific and Asian Studies, Economics and Government and Social Sciences at the Australian National University. She has also been a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, where she is now a Life Member of Clare Hall. In 1997, she was made Benchamabhorn, Member of the Most Noble Order of the Kingdom of Thailand, for services to education, history, language and culture. Since 1996 she has visited Myanmar fifteen times for research and collaborative linkages with the Education and Health sectors of that country. She has taken a leading role in fostering the Australian government's engagement policy with Myanmar.

• Prologue Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: In Search of Well-Being 2. State, Governance and Civil Society 3. Health for all and Holistic Security 4. Educating for the Civil Society 5. Environment Policy, Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation 6. Conclusion: Governance and the new Paradigm of Development - towards a framework for institutional change