SE Asia, Module #8

Like South America, Southeast Asia has undergone transition over the last few decades. It has been searching for independence, economic growth, democracy, and complete independene from foreign powers. There are countries that have seen vast growth while others have floundered.
Heidhus seems to feel that AE Asian countries are now prospering; whereas, Neher argues that problems still exist and SE Asia has not achieved its goals of independence.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 and offers hope for the future of these countries.
The most economic and prosperous is Singapore, the only island city-state in the world. At one point, the country was dependent upon others as it had no resources of its own with which to trade. Howeverw, it had two advantages, one being its harbor and the other its location in SE Asia as a sprinboard to others in the region. Tourism has also helped the economy. It has leaned more toward a western-style government, and uses English as he main language of business and teaching, dispensing with Chinese which was the former language used. Foriegn investors were drawn to Singapore because of low labor costs from other nations than the original colonial powers and from others in Asia. Singapore has become a model for others in the region, known as the 'tiger economy.' Heidhus also argues that Singapore is a small island republic surrounded by Muslims, Indonesians, and Malays; thus Singapore cannot insulate itself from outside inlfuences.
Clark suggests that SE Asia is having problems in transition and cannot achieve smooth democratic rule, somewhat simliar to a person learning to drive a stick shift car for the first time. ASEAN was originally established to deter communist Vietnam and China from making inroads into non-communist countries and to establish policies of trade among its memebers, but it has not established a political union with commonalities that would offer assistance and foster cooperation during times of crisis. The Hmong have been displaced and the Vietnamese boat people are recent crises of the region that have not been settled and continue to offer examples of unrest in the region and support Clark's hypothesis of unstable transistion to complete independece, democracy, and economic independence.