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A timely look at the impact of China's booming emergence on the countries of Southeast Asia Today, Southeast Asia stands uniquely exposed to the waxing power of the new China. Three of its nations border China and five are directly impacted by its claims over the South China Sea. All dwell in the lengthening shadow of its influence: economic, political, military, and cultural. As China seeks to restore its former status as Asia's preeminent power, the countries of Southeast Asia face an increasingly stark choice: flourish within Beijing's orbit or languish outside of it. Meanwhile, as rival powers including the United States take concerted action to curb Chinese ambitions, the region has emerged as an arena of heated strategic competition. Drawing on more than a decade of on-the-ground experience, Sebastian Strangio explores the impacts of China's rise on Southeast Asia, the varied ways in which the countries of the region are responding, and what it might mean for the future balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.
A fascinating analysis of the recent history of the beautiful but troubled Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia To many in the West, the name Cambodia still conjures up indelible images of destruction and death, the legacy of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and the terror it inflicted in its attempt to create a communist utopia in the 1970s. Sebastian Strangio, a journalist based in the capital city of Phnom Penh, now offers an eye-opening appraisal of modern-day Cambodia in the years following its emergence from bitter conflict and bloody upheaval. In the early 1990s, Cambodia became the focus of the UN's first great post-Cold War nation-building project, with billions in international aid roll...
To many in the West, the word 'Cambodia' still conjures up indelible images of destruction and death: the legacy of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and the terror it inflicted in its attempt to create a communist Utopia in the mid-1970s. In this highly acclaimed account, Sebastian Strangio offers an updated appraisal of modern-day Cambodia since its emergence from an era of upheaval and bitter conflict. This is a vivid portrait of a nation struggling to reconcile the promises of peace and democracy with a dark and tumultuous past. Book jacket.
This book reflects on the role of social media in the past two decades in Southeast Asia. It traces the emergence of social media discourse in Southeast Asia, and its potential as a “liberation technology” in both democratizing and authoritarian states. It explains the growing decline in internet freedom and increasingly repressive and manipulative use of social media tools by governments, and argues that social media is now an essential platform for control. The contributors detail the increasing role of “disinformation” and “fake news” production in Southeast Asia, and how national governments are creating laws which attempt to address this trend, but which often exacerbate the situation of state control. From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation explores three main questions: How did social media begin as a vibrant space for grassroots activism to becoming a tool for disinformation? Who were the main actors in this transition: governments, citizens or the platforms themselves? Can reformists “reclaim” the digital public sphere? And if so, how?
"Dr. Ear argues that the international community has chosen to prioritize political stability above all other governance dimensions, and in so doing has traded a modicum of democracy for an ounce of security. Focusing on post-1993 Cambodia, Ear explores the unintended consequences in post-conflict environments of foreign aid. He chooses Cambodia both for personal reasons--which infuses an academic analysis with a compelling sense of urgency--and because it is one of the most aid-drenched countries in modern history. He tries to explain the relationship between Cambodia's aid dependence and its appallingly poor governance. He concludes that despite decades of aid, technical cooperation, four national elections, no open warfare, and some progress in some parts of the economy, Cambodia is one broken government away from disaster."--Publisher's description.
The genocide in Myanmar has drawn global attention as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be presiding over human rights violations, forced migrations and extra-judicial killings on an enormous scale. This unique study draws on thousands of hours of interviews and testimony from the Rohingya themselves to assess and outline the full scale of the disaster. Casting new light on Rohingya identity, history and culture, this will be an essential contribution to the study of the Rohingya people and to the study of the early stages of genocide. This book adds convincingly to the body of evidence that the government of Myanmar has enabled a genocide in Rakhine State and the surrounding areas.
A Foreign Affairs Book of the Year A Spectator Book of the Year “Insightful...a deft, textured work of intellectual history.” —Foreign Affairs “A timely insight into how memories and ideas about the second world war play a hugely important role in conceptualizations about the past and the present in contemporary China.” —Peter Frankopan, The Spectator For most of its history, China frowned on public discussion of the war against Japan. But as the country has grown more powerful, a wide-ranging reassessment of the war years has been central to new confidence abroad and mounting nationalism at home. Encouraged by reforms under Deng Xiaoping, Chinese scholars began to examine the lo...
A generation after Pol Pot's regime killed one quarter of the nation's population, Cambodia shows every outward sign of having overcome its devastating history - the streets of Phnom Penh are paved; skyscrapers dot the skyline. But behind this fa ade lies a country still haunted by its years of terror. In 2008 and 2009, Joel Brinkley - who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the fall of the Khmer Rouge - returned to Cambodia. He discovered a population in the grip of a venal government. He learned that between one third and one half of Cambodians who lived through the Khmer Rouge era suffer from post - traumatic stress disorder, and that its afflictions are being passed to the next generation. His extensive close - up reporting in Cambodia's Curse illuminates the country, its people, and the deep historical roots of its modern - day behaviour. This is a devastating and important look at Cambodia today.
Although there are many books and films dealing with the Vietnam War, Sideshow tells the truth about America's secret and illegal war with Cambodia from 1969 to 1973. William Shawcross interviewed hundreds of people of all nationalities, including cabinet ministers, military men, and civil servants, and extensively researched U.S. Government documents. This full-scale investigation—with material new to this edition—exposes how Kissinger and Nixon treated Cambodia as a sideshow. Although the president and his assistant claimed that a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia was necessary to eliminate North Vietnamese soldiers who were attacking American troops across the border, Shawcross maintains that the bombings only spread the conflict, but led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent massacre of a third of Cambodia's population.
This detailed study charts the evolution of internationally assisted elections in Cambodia beginning in 1993 with the vote supervised by the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC). Although the UNTAC operation was unprecedented in its size and political scope, the less-than-democratic outcome of the 1993 vote (with Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party losing but remaining in power) began two decades of internationally assisted elections manipulated and controlled by Hun Sen and the CPP. Since then, disparate international actors have been complicit in supporting 'authoritarian elections' while promoting a more democratic and transparent electoral process. This has produced a relatively stable political-economic system serving the interests of a powerful and wealthy ruling elite but at the expense of overall positive socio-economic and political change. It has also allowed opposition forces to co-exist alongside a repressive state and to compete in elections that still hold out the possibility for change.