Southeast Asia Archive

Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton met with Minister Mentor LeeKuan Yew of Singapore who said that now is the time for a resumption ofengagement between Southeast Asia and the United States.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and PacificAffairs Kurt Campbell testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committeehearing Oct. 20 on U.S. policy toward Burma, a followup to his Sept. 30 testimony. “Our policy review also was informed by the factthat, for the first time in recent memory, the Burmese leadership hasshown an active interest in engaging with the United States. But, letme be clear: we have decided to engage with Burma because we believe itis in our interest to do so,” Campbell said.

If you haven’t seen this Onion clip (via Laura Rozen), it’s worth taking a look. My reaction to the Onion is usually just to think, “That’s funny.” This one actually made me laugh. But then it made me think. (I know, I know. Humor. Less.) It puts its finger, in a way that our nation’s comics seem better able to do these days than our political pundits, on a pretty determinant question in international relations. Namely, are nations, like raging forest fires, guided by natures that are unchanging and unresponsive to engagement and dialogue? Or are they guided by reason, […]

After Indonesian authorities gunned down Southeast Asia’s most-wanted terrorist, Noordin Mohammad Top, last month, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remained cautiously optimistic, stating at the time that Jakarta had “just won a battle” in its broader war against terrorism. Yudhoyono was probably right to strike such a balanced tone in his remarks. While Top’s death is a major blow to Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia, it is hardly the final nail in its coffin. And even as Jakarta’s “law and order approach” to eradicating terrorism continues to net key terrorist operatives, it has come under increasing scrutiny for eroding the […]

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific AffairsKurt Campbell testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Sept. 30 on U.S. policy toward Burma. Campbell outlined a new policy of”pragmatic engagment,” Voice of America reports.