World Affairs Council Learns About Southeast Asia

2/21/2019

Terry Mitchell (lk)

The World Affairs Council of Palm Beach is always providing insightful, topical presentations on global affairs. This past Wednesday, Dr. Amy Searight provided a broad overview of Southeast Asia in her remarks before the Council. She holds her Ph.D. in Political Science and an M.A. in East Asian studies from Stanford University. She has extensive experience with Asian policy, including working as senior adviser and director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS. Her presentation covered the many facets that make up Southeast Asia’s current geopolitical state. [Click on headline to read rest of article.]

Indonesia has emerged as an important member of the Association of South East Asia nations (ASEAN). After entering its “reformasi” era in 1998, democracy has brought about rapid economic growth. This growth has developed so quickly that it troubles the public systems and infrastructure. This new democracy also focused on creating stronger relations with larger countries, especially the United States. They see their trade and support relations as a possible way to help their infrastructure. Indonesia serves as a success story as a reformed South Asian country; although, they still are a long way from realizing full internal stability.

Indonesia is one of the ten countries that form the political organization called ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Originally designed as an anti-Communist political bloc with five countries, ASEAN has added five new nations and has been a key component in allowing otherwise small nations stand their ground against outside influences. Currently, about 650 million people reside in one of the countries that are a part of ASEAN, and it is the 7th largest economy in the world, with an average GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate of 5.4%. Most ASEAN countries continue their non aligned foreign policy that they adopted during the Cold War.

Dr. Seabright went on to talk about Indonesia's struggle with forming a society almost from scratch. Education was a topic that Indonesia pours resources into; however, the education system is fundamentally flawed. Child literacy rates are extremely high at 96%, while the graduation rates are a meager 29%. This is due to a poor teacher training program that passes teachers who are not qualified. Indonesia sees that educating their young benefits their future by providing them with citizens able to compete in world trade. Dr. Searight also touched on other key flashpoints in the region, including the current political state in Thailand.

Our group thoroughly enjoyed this conference, and we are looking forwards to the next event on Monday, March 4 where Dr. Allen Lynch will talk about U.S.- Russian relations.

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