Contains contributions by experts that discuss the significant issues and events of 2006 in each of the Southeast Asian nations and the region as a whole.

Southeast Asian Affairs 2009 provides an informed and readable analysis of events and developments in the region in 2008. In the regional section of the volume, the first two articles give the political and economic overview of Southeast Asia, the third discusses the use of mediation as a means for conflict resolution, while the fourth examines regional cooperation in maritime security arena. Eleven country reviews as well as well as six special theme articles follow, covering political, economic, security and social developments in the various countries and their implications for the region.

Provides perspectives from India and Singapore on some of the major security and political issues facing the two regions. Looks at regional integrations trends, roles of the major powers, maritime security in the Indian Ocean region, and political and security developments within Southeast Asia.

People within the Malay world hold strong but diverse opinions about the meaning of the word Melayu, which can be loosely translated as Malayness. Questions of whether the Filipinos are properly called "e;Malay"e;, or the Mon-Khmer speaking Orang Asli in Malaysia, can generate heated debates. So too can the question of whether it is appropriate to speak of a kebangsaan Melayu (Malay as nationality) as the basis of membership within an aspiring postcolonial nation-state, a political rather than a cultural community embracing all residents of the Malay states, including the immigrant Chinese and Indian population.In Melayu: The Politics, Poetics and Paradoxes of Malayness, the contributors examine the checkered, wavering and changeable understanding of the word Melayu by considering hitherto unexplored case studies dealing with use of the term in connection with origins, nations, minority-majority politics, Filipino Malays, Riau Malays, Orang Asli, Straits Chinese literature, women's veiling, vernacular television, social dissent, literary women, and modern Sufism. Taken as a whole, this volume offers a creative approach to the study of Malayness while providing new perspectives to the studies of identity formation and politics of ethnicity that have wider implications beyond the Southeast Asian region.

A chilling, up-to-the-minute look at the links between political instability and terrorism in Asia and Africa

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, located at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. East Timor was among the last of colonial territories to become independent, and it actually had to be liberated twice. First, after more than four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, it achieved independence in 1975 only to be invaded and occupied by Indonesia. After a blood-soaked occupation of 24 years and following intense international pressure, the Jakarta-regime only grudgingly allowed East Timor to form a nation of its own in 1999. Since then, the new state has faced further armed clashes and is only now able to seriously engage in nation-building. Historical Dictionary of East Timor relates the turbulent history of this country through a chronology, an introductory essay, an expansive bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of East Timor history from the earliest times to the present.

This book presents the hitherto unstudied variety of ways that human rights socialisation is attempted in the context of regional organisations, arguing that existing conceptual accounts of this phenomenon need to be expanded to best explain this diversity. By placing the study of the European Union’s relationship with Turkey alongside parallel studies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations engagement with Myanmar, and the Organization of American States history with Panama, this book argues that rights socialisation efforts are far more diverse than previously thought. Alongside the conditionality that dominates the EU experience, and that has received the majority of existing academic attention, this book argues that both the politics of social influence, the strategic manipulation of legitimacy and the politics of debate over the meaning of membership also drive socialisation efforts. This book situates these socialisation efforts along the journey states take when applying to, joining and then maintaining membership of, a regional organisation, and further distinguishes between what conditions are necessary for socialisation to be attempted and what further requirements are needed for that attempt to be successful. To appreciate the diversity of socialisation politics revealed, this book constructs an inclusive conceptual framework drawing on both rational choice and constructivist theorising and will be of interest to students of Politics and International Relations.

This book examines the key motivations for and challenges to greater regional integration in Southeast Asia. It demonstrates how security and economic concerns -domestic, regional and international - have either contributed to, or detracted from, an increased level of unity and cooperation in ASEAN. It also explores how the patterns of interaction and socialization generated by these issues, together with the nature of domestic political systems, have affected the emergence of common values, norms and interests. It covers the full range of issues confronting ASEAN at present, and the full range of ASEAN countries, and discusses both developments in ASEAN to date and also likely future developments.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 caused severe hardship in Southeast Asia, and many countries tightened their regulation of banks and other financial institutions, adopted more conservative fiscal policies, and made themselves less vulnerable to Western market fluctuations by forming closer trade and investment ties with their neighbors. This book analyzes the major political and economic reforms that resulted from the Asian financial crisis, looking particularly at how such reforms helped to prepare Asian countries for coping with the 2009 global recession. In each of the ten country chapters, the historical background, social and political system, economic development, and foreign relations of each country are analyzed and compared with those of neighboring countries. The concluding chapter looks ahead at the prospects for Southeast Asia in a more integrated Asian region. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

This book examines the role of the military in Southeast Asian politics, focusing particularly on developments since 2001. Each chapter addresses the role of the military in the politics of a particular country, including Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, East Timor, Indonesia and Singapore.