Development and Security in Southeast Asia

Reviews / Votes

'The complex relationship between security and development is rising to the top of the international agenda. September 11th and the Bali bombings have added an emotional new dimension to issues that have been significant in Southeast Asia for more than a generation. Written mainly by younger scholars from Canada and Southeast Asia in the shadow of the economic crisis of 1997, the innovative essays in these three volumes focus on the triangular connections among human security, governance, and development. Focusing primarily on Indonesia and the Philippines, they pay special attention to the environment and resources, migration and employment and the forces of globalization that have transformed the peoples and governments of the region. What is original is their conceptual interest in the interplay of states and localities in defining both security and development. The case studies, several of which reflect the views of local activists, researchers and politicians, underscore that national security and human security, like markets and societies, can be mutually reinforcing but can also collide with violent consequences. Put together during a three-year collaboration, their analysis and prescriptions make a valuable contribution to academic and policy debates that extend into the developing world well beyond Southeast Asia.' Paul Evans, University of British Columbia, Canada 'The three-volume book...has a remarkable coherence...As a whole the book is successful in illustrating the many facets of development - or security - in two countries. Hopefully its policy recommendations will circulate outside the academic arena and reach the policy-makers to whom they are addressed.' Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania 'A significant contriubtion to the literature, the volume adds knowledge through careful on-the-ground research into the key linkages connecting environment, development and security.' Environmental Change a