International Relations in Southeast Asia: The Struggle for Autonomy.

• Author: Beeson, Mark
• Position: Book Review

International Relations in Southeast Asia: The Struggle for Autonomy. By Donald E. Weatherbee et al. Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2005. Softcover: 306pp.

In the preface of this volume, the principal author, Donald Weatherbee, offers a disarmingly frank and accurate assessment of the book, its content, and goals. I can do no better than to quote it in full: "[it] is designed as an introduction to the issues and dynamics of international relations in contemporary Southeast Asia. Its goal is modest. Planned as a textbook, it does not pretend to present new research findings or theoretical insights" (p. xv).

Within these admittedly modest parameters, it succeeds admirably. Students will find it accessibly written, with useful guides to further readings, and boxes highlighting and elaborating on key issues and concepts such as the ASEAN Summits or "Aceh's struggle". As an introduction to the international relations of Southeast Asia, its principal institutions, and some of the key issues that currently animate its policymakers, it is excellent and can be recommended. However, readers who are interested in new research findings and theoretical insights might want to look elsewhere.

Despite Weatherbee's caveat about the absence of new theory, a more substantial introduction to some of the established paradigms might have been useful, even for theory-shy students. Weatherbee actually spends some time talking about the overall significance of the book and the region more generally in the context of theoretical debates in the concluding chapters. Thus it would have been useful if students had been provided with a more extensive sense of what these theoretical debates were about in the context of Southeast Asia, and a clearer sense of the author's own take on some of these issues.

Nevertheless, this is not the book's main intention, and it is perhaps unfair to complain about the absence of something it makes no claims to address. Where the book is on undeniably stronger ground is its systematic discussion of international relations issues and/or problems. The organization of the book is fairly conventional, and none the worse for that. After a useful chapter on the origins of "Southeast Asia", Weatherbee introduces what he considers to be the key "actors" that shape the region's international relations. Importantly, he pays particular attention to non-state actors, which he considers to be especially important, despite his...