Excerpt: "We at the end of the Cold war can also draw some lessons from that experience. We can take encouragement from the UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali's blueprint to make the UN a more effective global security instrument. But the UN cannot do it all. There are vital supporting roles to be played by regional and sub-regional organizations in building a viable world order within the current UN framework. I must emphasize the contribution which these organizations can make to security not only in their own neighbourhoods but also globally though putting forward their own ideas on this subject in the international debate. ASEAN should do this with confidence, bearing in mind its successful record of solving the non-Cold War problems of state development of the post-1945 period.

The Asia-Pacific region presents a challenge to international security in the post-Cold War era. Doubts as to the US' military commitment, concern with Japan's security aspirations, build-up of military capabilities and the nuclear ambitions of North Korea have further heightened tension.

The conventional understanding of strategic issues in the modern world has been very much a Western-driven phenomenon. That is to say, Western strategists, thinkers and writers have tended to establish the principles of strategic concepts, and to develop theories around them. While there is utility in much Western strategic thought, it is also apt to note that some of it does not have full relevance or validity when applied to a regional setting that is far removed from the geographical boundaries of the Western world. In that connection, this volume is partly intended to serve as an antidote to much of the Western commentary on Asia-Pacific security issues by providing a range of perspectives on those issues from the Southeast Asian point of view. It offers a range of Southeast Asian perspectives on the multifaceted security issues that confront the Asia-Pacific region in the post-Cold War era. That there is no unitary perspective emanating from the region is symptomatic of the very fluid geopolitical situation that characterizes Asia-Pacific security, and, of equal import, the different schools of thought that analysts in the region have chosen to subscribe to.

Though it might be impossible to conceive that the Cold War represented a lesser of two evils, the 12 British and Canadian scholars contributing to this volume suggest that international security today looks a little like high noon at the OK Corral. They consider the serious political instabilities, dangerous nationalisms, and border disputes which has been erupting like boils since the end of the Cold War, and track these regional studies through the security problems facing collective global security in a still proliferating nuclear age. Distributed by Ashgate. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This paper was delivered by Professor Michael Yahuda, Elliott School for International Affairs, George Washington University, at the Fourth Asia and Pacific Lecture organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore on 24 August 2005. Contents Introduction The Impact of the End of the Cold War in East Asia The Question of Regional Stability The Impact of the Great Powers on Security in Southeast Asia Conclusion.

The paradox of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia The Obama administration's pivot-to-Asia policy establishes an important place for Southeast Asia in U.S. foreign policy. But Washington's attention to the region has fluctuated dramatically, from the intense intervention of the cold war era to near neglect in more recent years. As a consequence, countries in Southeast Asia worry that the United States once again will become distracted by other problems and disengage from the region. This book written by an astute observer of the region and U.S. policy casts light on the sources of these anxieties. A main consideration is that it still is not clear how Southeast Asia fits into U.S. strategy for Asia and the broader world. Is the region central to U.S. policymaking, or an afterthought? Ambivalent Engagement highlights a dilemma that is becoming increasingly conspicuous and problematic. Southeast Asia continues to rely on the United States to play an active role in the region even though it is an external power. But the countries of Southeast Asia have very different views about precisely what role the United States should play. The consequences of this ambivalence will grow in importance with the expanding role of yet another outside power, China.

"The contributions to this volume, covering the areas of Globalisation and Security, Regional Institutions and Security, Governance in Plural Societies an Security, and Environmental Security, present stimulating analyses and insights to various non-traditional security issues that are of scholarly and policy relevance to Southeast Asia." -- BOOK JACKET.