The idea of the 'nation' is a Western concept which has been applied to Southeast Asia. It is a project which has been in progress since the last century but is still incomplete. Various theoretical frameworks which are associated with nation and nation-building in the Southeast Asian region have been briefly dealt with. The book aims to examine the making of the nations in Southeast Asia using both historical and political science approaches. Concepts related to nation such as ethnicity, state, indigenism and citizenship have also been analysed in the Southeast Asian context. Specific examples of nation-building in five major Southeast Asian countries are presented. Problems and prospects of Southeast Asia's nation-building and citizenship building in the era of globalisation are also discussed.

The twelve chapters included in this book address various issues related to Chinese migration, indigenization and exchange with special reference to the era of globalization. As the waves of Chinese migration started in the last century, the emphasis, not surprisingly, is placed on the "migrant states" rather than "indigenous states." Nevertheless, many chapters are also concerned with issues of "settling down" and "becoming part of the local scenes." However, the settling/integrating process has been interrupted by a globalizing world, new Chinese migration and the rise of China at the end of 20th century.

For Indonesia, which is keen to accelerate its infrastructure development, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is seen as an opportunity to tap into China's huge financial resources and technological capability. There has however been no concrete BRI project agreed to between China and Indonesia so far. While China considers all projects, including infrastructure projects and economic interactions as part of BRI, Indonesia only considers those infrastructure projects initiated during the Xi Jinping period as BRI projects. Indonesia has offered several broad areas for cooperation under the BRI framework and carefully selected project locations to minimize political risk for the Joko Widodo government. But no agreements have been signed yet as China requires detailed project proposals from Indonesia, which it has apparently not received. What appears to hamper progress are four key issues: the perception of China's economic domination, the ethnic Chinese issue, the Natuna issue, and the mainland Chinese workers issue.

Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia where there is a significant number of ethnic Chinese, many of whom have played an important role. This book presents biographical sketches of about 530 prominent Indonesian Chinese, including businessmen, community leaders, politicians, religious leaders, artists, sportsmen/sportswomen, writers, journalists, academics, physicians, educators, and scientists. First published in 1972, it was revised and developed into the present format in 1978, and has since been revised several times. This is the fourth and most up-to-date version.

Language policies in Southeast Asia have been shaped by the process of nation-building on the one hand and by political and economic considerations on the other. The early years of nation-building in Southeast Asia generated intensive language conflicts precisely because state policies privileged the idea of a monolingual nation and thus endeavoured to co-opt or even do away with troublesome ethnic identities. In recent years, language policies are increasingly influenced by pragmatic considerations, especially globalization and the awareness of a linkage between language and economic development, such that Southeast Asian states in varying degrees have become less insistent on promoting monolingual nationalism. This book evaluates the successes and drawbacks of language policies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, especially the ways in which these policies have often been resisted or contested. It is an invaluable primer on this linguistically complex region and a resource for scholars, policy-makers, civil society activists and NGOs in various parts of the world facing equally challenging ethnic/language issues.

This book addresses the rise of China and its impacts on Southeast Asia's economies and businesses, especially on those of ethnic Chinese. It also discusses Southeast Asian government policies, particularly their economic and business policies, towards local Chinese, and Southeast Asian Chinese businesses, both conglomerates and SMEs, in an era of globalization. Leading experts from the Southeast Asian region invited to write the papers, presenting the most up-to-date analyses on the subject.

With the rise of China and massive new migrations, China has adjusted its policy towards the Chinese overseas in Southeast Asia and beyond. This book deals with Beijing's policy which has been a response to the external events involving the Chinese overseas as well as the internal needs of China. It appears that a rising China considers the Chinese overseas as a source of socio-political and economic capital and would extend its protection to them whenever this is not in conflict with its core national interest. The impacts on and the responses of the relevant countries, especially those in Southeast Asia, are also examined.

This book, first published in 1996, examines Indonesia's foreign policy under Suharto. It not only details Indonesia's foreign policy behaviour vis-a-vis Indonesia's neighbours and major powers, but also places it in the context of foreign policy analysis. Today, the book remains as the only full-length study on Indonesia's foreign policy under Suharto. It is now reprinted with a new postscript which discusses the post-Suharto era from B.J. Habibie to Joko Widodo. Indonesia under Suharto had attempted to become a regional power to lead Southeast Asian states and beyond. As the largest country and also the richest in terms of natural resources, Suharto's Indonesia was held in deference by the ASEAN states. However, due to its limited capabilities, its lack of military strength, advanced technology and economic strength, the political influence of Jakarta was in fact quite limited.

Peranakan Chinese communities and their "hybrid" culture have fascinated many observers. This book, comprising fourteen chapters, is mainly based on my papers written in the last two decades. They address Peranakan Chinese identities in the globalizing Malay Archipelago. Issues discussed in these chapters include Peranakan Chinese cultural, national and political identities in the Malay Archipelago, i.e., Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (IMS). Based on the coverage of the chapters, the book is divided into two parts. Part I is on the regional dimension, which contains nine chapters that discuss the three countries and beyond. Part II consists of five chapters which focus on one country, i.e., Indonesia. This book not only discusses the past and the present but also the future of the Peranakan Chinese.

Most of the earlier studies on the Indonesian political party, Golkar, tend to view the organization solely as an electoral machine used by the military to legitimize its power. However, this study is different in that it considers Golkar less an electoral machine and more as a political organization which inherited the political traditions of the nominal Muslim parties and the Javanese governing elite pre-1965, before the inauguration of Indonesia's New Order. Golkar, then, is seen in this book as nominal Islam with a military element that tends to differentiate it from previous political parties in the country. Leo Suryadinata traces the birth, struggle, and emergence of this party so closely identified with Indonesia's President Suharto. Yet, to claim that Suharto and the military dominate the party is to view Golkar superficially, for the party is also composed of factions of civil servants and the Minister of Security and Defense, as well as several other governmental agencies. A complex and well-detailed cultural history of Indonesia's most powerful political party, this case study should have wider implications for the study of military behavior in the Third World.