Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia

Strategic Currents: Emerging Trends in Southeast Asia
Yang Razali Kassim, editor (Evan A. Laksmana, OTTI anlayst, is one of the contributors)
2008 184 pages
ISBN 978-981-08-1822-7 S$29.90/US$22.90

About the Publication

Southeast Asia may be going through a new phase. The region is experiencing new challenges as well as changes in its geostrategic and economic environment. Such changes have become more evident over the last few years, as manifested in a range of issues such as climate change, ASEAN identity, regionalism and religion. This volume reflects some of what possibly could be emerging trends in the region, as captured in a series of commentaries written for the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), the Nanyang Technological University between 2007 and early 2008.

Edited by Yang Razali Kassim, and succinctly written in a readable and engaging style by regional experts, policy contributors and other personalities, including Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister and finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, this book hopes to generate thinking on some of the key issues that are emerging to confront Southeast Asia and ASEAN.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preliminary pages

ASEAN: AT DECADE’S TURN
Suharto: The End of an ASEAN Era, by Yang Razali Kassim
ASEAN Regional Forum: Time for Preventive Diplomacy, by Ralf Emmers
The ASEAN Charter Controversy: Between Big Talk and Modest Actions, by Hiro Katsumata

The ASEAN Community: Trusting Thy Neighbour, by Christopher Roberts
Prospects for an ASEAN Nuclear Cooperation: A Common Nuclear Facility? by Alvin Chew
ASEAN’s Future Identity: Imagined or Imitation Community? by Yang Razali Kassim

THE MYANMAR CHALLENGE
ASEAN: Time to Suspend Myanmar, by Barry Desker
Plight of Myanmars People: Challenges for the International Community, by Christopher Roberts
India’s Outdated Myanmar Policy: Time for a Change, by C Raja Mohan
Rohingya Muslims: Myanmar’s Forgotten People, by Nyi Nyi Kyaw

CLIMATE CHANGE
ASEAN: Act on Climate Change, by Barry Desker
Coping with Nature’s Wrath: Can Southeast Asia Afford to Wait? by Mely Caballero-Anthony
The Rush for Nuclear Energy in Southeast Asia: Promises and Pitfalls, by Mely Caballero-Anthony Sofiah Jamil
The Security Dimension of Climate Change, by Hoo Tiang Boon Ng Sue-Chia
Climate Change: ASEAN Plus 3’s New Concern, by Chen Gang Li Mingjiang

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND REGIONALISM
The Asian Financial Crisis 10 Years Later: What Lessons have We Learned? by Anwar Ibrahim
East Asian Identity: After the Crisis, by Tang Shiping
The New Silk Road: Time for an Arab-Asian Free Trade Area? by Yang Razali Kassim
APEC: Time for Second-Best Options, by Barry Desker

SINGAPORE AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
33 Days: An Intense Month of High-Level Diplomacy, by Yang Razali Kassim
The Tao of Spider-Man: Lessons for Singapore Defence and Diplomacy, by Tan See Seng
Self-Radicalization: The Case of Abdul Basheer Abdul Kader, by Kumar Ramakrishna
The Singapore Armed Forces and Domestic Security, by Terence Lee
Multiculturalism in Singapore: The Ties that Bind and Blind, by Yolanda Chin Norman Vasu
Why We Must Ponder the Improbable: Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning, by Barry Desker

REGIONAL SECURITY
Trends in Piracy and Armed Sea Robbery in Southeast Asia, by Jane Chan Joshua Ho
Is Poso All about JI? The Roots of the Conflict, by Evan Laksmana
The Southern Insurgency: Rethinking Thailand’s Military Strategy, by Prashanth Parameswaran
Trust and Soft Power in War on Terror, by Bahtiar Effendy
Abu Sayyaf’s New Leader: Yasser Igasan the Religious Scholar, by Taharudin Piang Ampatuan

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE REGIONAL POWERS
East Asian Security: India’s Rising Profile, by C Raja Mohan
Rudd’s Rise: Changes in Australia’s Strategic Directions, by Sam Bateman
Timor-Leste and China: The Dragon’s Newest Friend, by Loro Horta
A New Pro-Asia Doctrine? Japan’s Approach to East Asian Regionalism, by Go Ito
South China Sea: Time for ASEAN-China Joint Development? by Robert Beckman

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND CONTEMPORARY ISLAM
The Rise of Religious Bylaws in Indonesia, by Luthfi Assyaukanie
Turkey and the Trban: The Dilemmas of Laicist Ideology, by Karim D Crow
New PAS, Young Ulama: Re-Defining the Future of Islamist Politics, by Yang Razali Kassim
Responding to the Idea of Hijrah (Migration), by Muhammad Haniff Hassan
List of Contributors

ISEAS / RSIS
ISEAS and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies co-publication. Available exclusively from ISEAS for worldwide distribution.