Southeast Asia After the Cold War: A Contemporary History

by Cheng Guan Ang

International politics in Southeast Asia since end of the Cold War in 1990 can be understood within the frames of order and an emerging regionalism embodied in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). But order and regionalism are now under siege, with a new global strategic rebalancing under way. The region is now forced to contemplate new risks, even the emergence of new sorts of cold war, rivalry and conflict.

Ang Cheng Guan, author of Southeast Asia’s Cold War, writes here in the mode of contemporary history, presenting a complete, analytically informed narrative that covers the region, highlighting change, continuity and context.

Crucial as a tool to make sense of the dynamics of the region, this account of Southeast Asia's international relations will also be of immediate relevance to those in China, the USA and elsewhere who engage with the region, with its young, dynamic population, and its strategic position across the world's key choke-points of trade. This is essential reading for decision-makers who wish to understand our current situation, looking back to the end of the Cold War thirty years ago, and forward to an uncertain future.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Jonah Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 6/10
A decent narrative, but seems academically flawed by a near total reliance on Singapore news records for things which should be easily to acquire independently - government press statements, public speeches.
Citations are messy, and it is hard to tell where opinion, anonymous insider information, or public information starts and end.

As a narrative for beginners, this is sufficient. As a history, and moreover a regional history, this is problematic. I would have hoped for more sources from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, or Myanmar.

[Hunter Marston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ang Chen Guan provides a terrific overview of ASEAN's history from 1990 to 2020, noting some of the institution's assets and advantages as well as its structural weaknesses and failings. I only had two real complaints with the work: First, he cites almost exclusively Singapore news sources (Straits Times). This isn't to say that Singaporean news isn't quality; rather, it just begs the question why he leaves out external perspectives. Relatedly, he draws on discredited analyst Mark Valencia for a lot of the references to South China Sea developments. Valencia is widely regarded as a Chinese Communist Party stooge and not as an objective analyst. Second, Ang Chen Guan's characterization of individual SE Asian states' "soft-balancing" and "hedging" behavior exposes him to some critique from more rigorous IR theorists, who would say he blurs the definitional boundaries of those terms. Final point: I just wish he devoted more space to certain major concepts/events, such as the election of Trump, which he gives all of two pages near the end of the book. Or the above notion of hedging/balancing, which he kind of leaves hanging as a segue to nothing. Ultimately, these are only necessities of a short book. The book is quite well done overall and a must-read for SE Asia analysts of geopolitics.

[Jason Friedlander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally enjoyed this and learned a whole lot, although it was often pretty dry. Like the other reviewer here, I was also wary about just how much of the sourcing in the book came from Straits Times and other Singaporean perspectives. It didn’t necessarily feel biased because of this, but the predominance of one point of view was quite obvious, as Singaporean experts also seemed to be disproportionately referenced.

Nevertheless it was interesting and worth a read. It doesn’t feel as ambitious as his previous book on the Cold War period itself, but it felt like a useful addendum to that story. Perhaps they could have just been condensed into one long book instead of two.