The divergent experiences surrounding merit-making acts represent the distinct backgrounds of individuals and communities that have emerged in postwar Cambodia. This article examines merit-making activities in two Buddhist temples in southwestern Cambodia and the influence of political patronage...

Three recent works – Social Activism in Southeast Asia, Social Movements in Latin America: Neoliberalism and Popular Resistance, and Southeast Asia and the Civil Society Gaze: Scoping a Contested Concept in Cambodia and Vietnam – provide a timely update on the contemporary landscape of...

This paper examines the rationale by which mainland Chinese firms choose their coalition partners in their Malaysian ventures. I explore how, under certain political economic conditions, such cross-border investment and corporate tie-ups can be shaped to meet the Malaysian state’s objectives....

In an attempt to better grasp the realities of Myanmar’s national legislature, which was formed after the 2010 elections, this paper examines the personal profiles and social backgrounds of its elected and appointed members. I have sought to record data on the social composition of Myanmar’s...

This paper examines some of the major ideational aspects of Timor-Leste’s foreign policy orientation in the post-independence period. Drawing upon the constructivist accounts of state behaviour, the paper situates Timorese leaders’ foreign policy decisions in the broader context of their...

Book Review of the Monograph: Siroj Sorajjakool (2013), Human Trafficking in Thailand: Current Issues, Trends and the Role of the Thai Government. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, ISBN: 978-616-215-060-9, 235 pages. Human trafficking is not widely reported in local Thai news, and news of it...

Book Review of the edited volume: Omkar Lal Shrestha and Aekapol Chongvilaivan (eds) (2013), Greater Mekong Subregion: From Geographical to Socio-economic Integration. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), ISBN: 978-981-4379-68-7, 270 pages

ASEAN’s engagement with human rights culminated in the creation of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in 2012. The Declaration is fascinating in three ways: Its institutional origins are surprising, it was agreed upon by states with very different positions on the role of human rights...

Book Review of the edited volume: Omkar Lal Shrestha and Aekapol Chongvilaivan (eds) (2013), Greater Mekong Subregion: From Geographical to Socio-economic Integration. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), ISBN: 978-981-4379-68-7, 270 pages

Southeast Asia has been undergoing a transition to more democratic forms of governance over the last two decades. The 2007 Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stated that henceforth ASEAN would pursue democratic forms of governance, the rule of law and the attendant...