Challenges to Democracy in Southeast Asia: Rethinking US Policy

Chaired by Catharin Dalpino, Visiting Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University; Professional Lecturer, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Roundtable Description | Agenda | Invitation List

Southeast Asia has one of the most diverse political spectrums in the world. As a result, societies in the region are inclined to follow individual and even unique paths to political change. In the past two decades, however, momentum for democratization as a whole has increased noticeably. The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia have all undertaken profound experiments in democracy, with varying results. Recent changes in Malaysia lead some to believe that democratization in that country may be strengthening. At the same time, conditions for democratization could be deteriorating. New counterterrorism measures are giving governments stricter internal controls that could slow or reverse the pace of democratization. Rising awareness of political and economic corruption and the need for governments to be demonstrably effective in countering corruption place heavy pressures on new democratic regimes. In the Philippines, which has been in political crisis over corruption issues for the past several weeks, serious discussion of moving from a presidential to a parliamentary system is under way.

The gradual shift toward democratization in Southeast Asia has an impact on the region as a whole, seen in the internal dynamics of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The changing internal balance in ASEAN undergirds an implicit debate over traditional principles of noninterference in the internal affairs of member states. Pressure from the West to urge Burma toward democratization also figures into this debate. In this new climate, questions have arisen about the intentions and effectiveness of US policy to promote democracy in Southeast Asia.

This roundtable is coordinated by Jen Maceyko, Writer/Editor, The Stanley Foundation