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Geopolitics Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia
• Is a region of countless
islands
o Indonesia has more than
13,000 islands
o Major islands: Sumatra,
Borneo (Kalimantan), Java,
Sulawesi, and the western
half of New Guinea
o Philippines has 7,000 islands
(Luzon and Mindanao)
• Smoke and Air Pollution
o Increasingly poor air quality
from urban smog, dry
conditions, smoke from
clearing forests for other
uses
 Introduction
• Southeast Asia illustrates both the promises and perils of globalization

• This region has long been influenced by external sources because of its resources and its strategic
location

• Recent economic turmoil has come with increased ethnic and social tensions in many countries in
the region

• ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has brought a new level of regional cooperation
to the area with a goal of the countries in the region to control – rather than to be controlled by –
external global forces
Map showing the border disputes in Asia
https://www.businessinsider.com/asias-disputed-borders-2016-03
Population Indicators
 MAINLAND REGION
• 5 STATES: VIETNAM, LAOS, CAMBODIA, THAILAND, MYANMAR

• BUDDHISM DOMINATES THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

• A MULTICULTURAL AND MULTIETHNIC REGION

• ONE OF THE LEAST URBANIZED REALMS IN THE WORLD

• SOME COUNTRIES HAVE MORE THAN ONE CORE AREA (VIETNAM, MYANMAR)
 INSULAR SOUTHEAST ASIA
• A SUB-REALM OF PENINSULAS AND ISLANDS FRAGMENTED POLITICAL
• SOUTHEAST ASIA’S SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ENTITIES
PERIPHERY

• COMPRISED OF 5 STATES, ALL OF WHICH A MULTICULTURAL AND

HAVE COLONIAL HISTORIES MULTI-ETHNIC REGION
o MALAYSIA
o INDONESIA
o PHILLIPINES ISLAM PREVAILS
o SINGAPORE
o BRUNEI
COLONIAL LEGACIES PERSIST
Colonial
Southeast Asia
Singapore Malaysia
5.6 million 31.5 million
Multicultural Multicultural.
75% Chinese, 14% Malays 51% Malays (mostly Muslim),
and 8% Indians 24% Chinese (mostly
Buddhist, Confucian or
Taoist)
7% Indian (Hindu).
18% Indigenous and others.
Founded by Britain (1819). Sultanate of Malacca
Trade and military (c1400).
stronghold. Strait Settlements; Penang
Independence (1958) (1786), Singapore (1819)
and Malaka (1824).
Trade route to China and
access Malaysian resources
(tin and rubber).
Indonesia
267.6 million
Multicultural.
87% Muslim, Christian 9%,
Hindu 2%.
World’s largest Muslim
population.
350 tribal and ethno-linguistic
groups.
More than 500 different
languages and dialects.
Hindu and Buddhist states
from the 4th century (Sri
Vijaya).
Islam brought by Arab
traders (13th century).
Dutch East India Company
began colonization in the
16th century; Batavia
(Jakarta; 1619).
Philippines
106.6 million
Fusion culture (Malay,
Hispanic and American).
Christian Malay 91.5%,
Muslim Malay 4%
Chinese 1.5%.
83% Roman Catholic.
Muslim minority (Mindanao)
No kingdom before the
Europeans.
Territory claimed by
Magellan in 1521 and
colonized by Spain by 1565.
American protectorate
(1898).
Burma
50 million
Ethnic diversity:
Burmese (Tibetan and
Chinese origin); 68%.
Chin (India), Shan (Thais) and
Mon (Cambodia) minorities.
Became a British colony
(1885).
A frontline during WWII
(Burma Road).
Independence granted
(1948).
Cambodia
14 million
90% Khmer.
95% Buddhist (Theravada).
Chinese and Vietnamese
minorities.
Southern part annexed by
Thailand (1833).
Annexed to French Indochina
(1885).
Independence (1954).
Khmer Rouge gained control
in (1975-78).
Laos
5.7 million
Altitudinal distribution.
Lao Loum (lowland 65%).
Minorities in the hills and
mountainous areas; Lao
Theung (midland; 25%); Lao
Sung (highland; 10%).
Lao kingdoms (14th to 18th
century).
Vassal state of Thailand (18th
century).
French protectorate (19th
century).
Constitutional monarchy
(1954).
Civil war (1953-1975).
Lao People's Democratic
Republic (1975-)
 Religion in
Southeast Asia
 Geopolitical Framework
• 10 geopolitical states
o Southeast Asian countries have joined together
under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)
• Before European Colonialism
o Most of the Southeast Asian countries existed as
independent kingdoms before Europeans arrived
• The Colonial Era
o Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive
(around 1500) in eastern Indonesia
o Dutch arrived in 1600s, followed by the British
o Dutch became the most powerful in the region
o U.S. was the final colonial influence, in
Philippines (1898)
o Decolonization was completed in 1963
• The Vietnam War and Its Aftermath
o France determined to maintain control of its
Southeast Asian colonies
o War between communist forces in the north
and French in the south
o Geneva Agreement in 1954 partitioned the
country into north and south halves (North
Vietnam, South Vietnam)
o Communist guerrillas in the south, Pathet
Lao forces in Laos, and the Khmer Rouge in
Cambodia all fought to expel western
influences
o Using the domino theory (fear that if
Vietnam fell to communism, the rest of S.E.
Asia would follow), the U.S. sent troops to
the region
o U.S. defeat and withdrawal 1973–1975
o Refugees from the region as a result,
including many migrating to the U.S.
 Geopolitical Tensions in Contemporary Southeast Asia
• Conflicts in Indonesia • Philippines and Malaysia conflict over
o War in Irian Jaya for independence from Dutch, their border
joined Indonesia • Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam all
o East Timor independence (1999)
make claims to the Spratly and Paracel
o Other independence movements in Indonesia
o Political tensions between Muslim groups in Java islands. China and Taiwan, too
(Indonesia)
• Formation of ASEAN has had a calming
• Regional Tensions in the Philippines influence in the region
o Persistent problems in Islamic southwest, and o Cooperation
possible links to Al Qaeda network o Concerns about outside influences
(Chinese and Western)
• Burma’s Many Problems
o Conflict between the Burmans and non-Burman
societies
o The Shan, United Wa State Army, the Karen, The
Mon
Population Map of
Southeast Asia
Geopolitical Issues
in Southeast Asia
 Population and Settlement:
Subsistence, Migration, Cities
• Areas of infertile soil and rugged mountains influence settlement

• Settlement and Agriculture

o Island rainforests generally have poor soils
o Soils connected to volcanic activity tend to be fertile
o Relatively dense populations are found in the region’s river deltas, coastal areas, and zones of
fertile volcanic soil

o Uplands tend to be sparsely settled

• Swidden in the Uplands
o Swidden system – AKA “slash-and-burn” agriculture or shifting cultivation is practiced in the
region’s uplands
o Mountainous area of region is often called the “Golden Triangle”
o Large opium production
 Population and Settlement:
Subsistence, Migration, Cities
• Plantation Agriculture
o Colonial period: rice, cane sugar, rubber, and other cash crops
o Commercial crops today: tea and copra (dried coconut meat)

• Rice in the Lowlands

o Lowlands of mainland Southeast Asia are largely devoted to intensive rice cultivation

• Recent Demographic Change

o Population Contrasts
o Philippines: high growth rate reflects influence of Roman Catholic Church on family planning
o Laos has highest TFR because low level of development
o Cambodia also has high TFR, possibly linked to high mortality rate
o Thailand’s TFR has dropped dramatically in recent years
o Indonesia has the largest population of the region (200 million)

• Growth and Migration

o Indonesia has an official policy of transmigration
o Transmigration: relocation of people from one region to another within a national territory
o From Java to other Indonesian islands
 Population and Settlement:
Subsistence, Migration, Cities
• Urban Settlement
o Southeast Asia is less than 30% urbanized
o Many of region’s countries have primate cities (single, large urban settlements that overshadow all
others)
o Efforts to encourage growth of secondary cities
o Urban primacy less pronounced in Vietnam and Indonesia
o Squatter settlements are common in this region
o Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) is Southeast Asia’s largest city
o Development from government and private investors produced a modern city with the world’s
tallest building, the Petronos Towers
o Singapore is a city-state, with modern infrastructure and no squatter settlement
 Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Meeting Ground of World Cultures

• The Introduction and Spread of Major Cultural Traditions

• Christianity and Tribal Cultures
• South Asian Influences o In late 19th and early 20th centuries,
o The first major influence arrived from South Asia 2,000 years ago Christian missionaries brought
o Hindu influence remains only on the Indonesian island of Bali Christianity to the region
o Second wave in 13th century brought Theravada Buddhism o Conversion greatest among Animists
o Buddhism found today in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia in Southeast Asia’s highland region
o
• Chinese Influences • Religion and Communism
o Vietnam had stronger influences from East Asia (1000 A.D. established a
kingdom of their own) o Religious practices were strongly
o More recent Chinese immigration to other parts of the region has had a discouraged in Vietnam, Cambodia,
strong influence and Laos after communism took
o Many Chinese retain Chinese citizenship, and are relatively wealthy hold
o Strained relations between Chinese minority and indigenous majority
• The Arrival of Islam
o Brought to Southeast Asia by Muslim merchants
o By 1650, Islam dominated in Malaysia and Indonesia
o Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country
o 87% of the 206 million Indonesians are Muslim
 Southeast Asian Culture in Global Context

• European colonial rule brought a new era of globalization to the region

o Languages, Christianity, new governmental, educational and economic systems
• Many countries chose isolation after decolonization
o Philippines was the most profoundly influenced by its colonization by Spain, and later by the U.S.
o Quicker to adopt Western culture than other countries
o Thailand also receptive to Western influences

• Malaysia and Singapore more resistant to Western Culture

Physical Geography of
Southeast Asia
Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region
• The Tragedy of the Karen
o Nearly 7 million tribal people living in the
mountainous border between Burma and
Thailand
o Rebelled against the Burmese government to
gain independence
o Burmese army overran most of Karen
territory, and gained control of the teak
forests there

• The Deforestation of Southeast Asia

o Export-oriented logging companies have
reached deep into the region’s forests
o Damages watersheds, landscapes are
denuded, wildlife habitat destroyed
o Many southeast Asian countries have
established bans on the export of raw logs
Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region
• Smoke and Air Pollution
o Increasingly poor air quality from urban smog, dry conditions, smoke from clearing forests for other
uses

• Patterns of Physical Geography

o Mainland Environments
o Rugged uplands interspersed with broad lowlands associated with large rivers
o Mountains are found along the Thai-Burma border, and through Laos and southern Vietnam
o Rivers: Mekong, Irrawaddy, Red, and Chao Phraya
o Thailand’s Khorat Plateau has thin, poor soils and water shortages

• The Influence of the Monsoon

o Monsoon winds bring hot and rainy season: May to October
o Dry and generally hot conditions: November to April
o Tropical monsoon and tropical wet climates in this area
• Insular Environments
Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested Region
• Equatorial Island Climates
o More complex climate than on the mainland
o Receives rain during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter
o Typhoons: tropical hurricanes that bring heavy rainfall to the northern reaches of insular Asia
o Islands experience very little seasonality because of the equatorial influence (temperatures are high
year-round)
o Rainfall is higher and more evenly distributed throughout the year as compared to the mainland
 Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics
• Until the economic downturn of the 1990s, economic
development in the region was a paragon for new
global capitalism. Instability persists
• Uneven Economic Development
• The Philippine Decline
o Philippines was the most highly developed Southeast
Asian country 40 years ago
o In 1980s and 1990s the Philippines’ population
outpaced its economic growth, and living standards
declined
o Decline attributed to crony capitalism under Marcos
regime
o Many Filipinos have sought employment in other
countries
o Send money home (“remittances”)
o Brain drain
• The Regional Hub: Singapore
o Has transformed itself from an entrepôt (a
port city where goods are imported, stored,
and transshipped) to one of the world’s most
modern states
o Encourages investment by multinational
firms, and has invested in itself
• The Malaysian Boom
o Has recently experienced rapid economic
growth
o Began with plantation agriculture and natural
resource extraction, then manufacturing in
labor-intensive high-tech sector
o Wealth of Chinese (esp. in Malaysia) led to
affirmative action for Bumiputra (“sons of the
soil” Malaysians)
 Economic and Social Development: The Roller-Coaster Ride of Tiger Economics
• Uneven Economic Development
• Thailand: An Emerging Tiger?
o Japanese companies were leading players in
Thailand’s earlier economic boom
o Japanese factories built in the region
o Industrialization greatest in historical core
(including Bangkok)
o “Sex tourism” industry
• Recent Economic Expansion in Indonesia
o Indonesian economy began to expand in the 1970s
o Fueled by oil exports
o Multinational corporations now attracted to the
low-wage labor of the region
o Indonesia remains poor; political instability a
concern
• Persistent Poverty in Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia
o Experienced little economic expansion during the
1980s and 1990s
o Vietnam is the most prosperous of the three, but
is poor
o Mid-1990s economic reform in the country:
market economics with political forms of
communist state
o Laos and Cambodia face difficulties from rugged
terrain, relative isolation, and ravages of war,
government repression
• Burma’s Troubled Economy
o Low economic development, but has great
potential
o Abundant natural resources and fertile farmland
o Warfare a major problem
Economic and Social Development: Globalization and the Southeast Asian Economy

• Southeast Asia as a whole has undergone rapid • Issues of Social Development

integration into the global economy
o Significant development in Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand, Indonesia
• But development can bring problems
o Environmental degradation
o Growing social inequality
o Outside of Singapore and Malaysia, workers wages
are “miserably low,” and discipline may be harsh o University and technical education still
• Movements beginning in Europe, the U.S. and
elsewhere to pressure multinational corporations
in Southeast Asia to improve working conditions
o Singapore and Brunei are Southeast Asia’s
leaders in health and education
o Laos and Cambodia rank low
o Life expectancy of 55; literacy rates below
50%
o Most governments in Southeast Asia place
high priority on basic education, and literacy
rates are relatively high
lagging, forcing many to study abroad
o Countries of Southeast Asia must invest in
their own human resource
 Conclusions

• The creation of ASEAN reflects a unity in this region designed to

counteract the negative aspects of globalization
• Participation in the global economy has resulted in significant
deforestation in Southeast Asia
• Geopolitical change is needed to bring stability to the region