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The Southeast Asia Studies Program pursues a multidisciplinary research approach in collaboration with leading experts to examine cross-cutting trends and emerging issues that impact U.S. strategic interests in four core policy areas:
Terrorism and Religious Violence — The challenges of terrorism and religious violence dominate Southeast Asia’s security environment and, increasingly, define U.S. relations with the region. Current projects focus on Islamic education and counter-terrorism.
Governance and Civil Society — Much of Southeast Asia is undergoing far-reaching political transitions, with recent elections or leadership changes occurring in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Current projects focus on the role of religion, non-governmental organizations, and militaries in democratizing societies.
International Relations — Southeast Asia is situated at the nexus of political, economic, religious, cultural, and environmental crosscurrents in Asia. Current projects on the region's geopolitics include China's growing regional influence, U.S.-Australia relations, Southeast Asia-Middle East relations, religion and foreign policy, pandemics, and the politics of natural resources.
Trade and Investment — The pursuit of free trade agreements between ASEAN countries and China, Japan, and India poses opportunities and challenges for Southeast Asian countries' vital interests. Current projects focus on Islamic banking, ASEAN+3, APEC, FTAs, regional economic integration, and Southeast Asia's future economic landscape.
Mercy Kuo, Director
Teresa Reimers, Next
Generation Fellow
International Jihad and
Muslim Radicalism in Thailand? Toward an Alternative Interpretation
Joseph Chinyong Liow
Asia Policy, vol.1, issue 2 (July 2006)
Southeast
Asia’s Defense Needs: Change or Continuity?
in Strategic Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills (September 2005)
Australian
Strategic Policy
in Strategic Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills (September
2005)
Southeast
Asia: Back to the Future
in Strategic Asia 2004–05: Confronting Terrorism in the Pursuit of Power
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills (September 2004)
Australian
Strategic Policy
in Strategic Asia 2005–06: Military Modernization in an Era of Uncertainty
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills (September 2005)
Southeast
Asia: Back to the Future
in Strategic Asia 2004–05: Confronting Terrorism in the Pursuit of Power
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills (September 2004)
Muslims, Politics, and Violence in Indonesia: An Emerging Jihadist-Islamist
Nexus?
Zachary Abuza
NBR Analysis, Vol. 15., No. 3 (September 2004)
Reconciling Burma/Myanmar: Essays on U.S. Relations with Burma
Robert H. Taylor, John H. Badgley, David I. Steinberg, Kyaw Yin Hlaing, Helen
James, Seng Raw, and Morten B. Pedersen
NBR Analysis, Vol. 15, No. 1 (April 2004)
Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and
Jemaah Islamiyah
Zachary Abuza
NBR Analysis, Vol. 14, No. 5 (December 2003)
Indonesia:
Turbulent Times-From Autocracy to Democracy
in Strategic Asia 2003–04: Fragility and Crisis
John B. Haseman, ed. by Richard J. Ellings and Aaron L. Friedberg with Michael
Wills (September 2003)
Southeast
Asia: Whither Security Regionalism?
in Strategic Asia 2003–04: Fragility and Crisis
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. by Richard J. Ellings and Aaron L. Friedberg with Michael
Wills (September 2003)
Terrorism:
The War on Terrorism in Southeast Asia
in Strategic Asia 2003–04: Fragility and Crisis
Zachary Abuza, ed. by Richard J. Ellings and Aaron L. Friedberg with Michael
Wills (September 2003)
Southeast
Asia
in Strategic Asia 2002–03: Asian Aftershocks
Sheldon W. Simon, ed. By Richard J. Ellings and Aaron L. Friedberg with Michael
Wills (September 2002)
Islam
and Asian Security
in Strategic Asia 2002–03: Asian Aftershocks
Robert W. Hefner, ed. By Richard J. Ellings and Aaron L. Friedberg with Michael
Wills (September 2002)
Managing Security Challenges in Southeast Asia
Sheldon W. Simon
NBR Analysis, Vol. 13, No. 4 (July 2002)
Islamic finance offers an appealing alternative to conventional mechanisms of financial investment and asset management. Representatives from government, law, financial institutions, asset management groups, and academia came together for the NBR conference “Islamic Finance in Southeast Asia: Local Practice, Global Impact” at Georgetown University on October 18, 2007. Participants examined the forces driving the growing phenomenon of Islamic finance and explored opportunities and challenges for U.S. policymakers and global business leaders.
In her opening keynote address, Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz of Bank Negara Malaysia optimistically assessed the remarkable growth of Islamic finance over the past five years. “Islamic finance is now at the threshold of a new dimension in which it has an increased potential role to strengthen international financial inter-linkages between nations,” she stated. Spanning more than 75 countries—Muslim and non-Muslim—with an estimated average annual growth of 15% to 20% and total assets exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars, Islamic finance is gaining increasing visibility and viability as a sustainable form of financing and banking.
U.S. regulators and stakeholders increasingly face challenges and opportunities in developing legal frameworks that integrate sharia-compliant products into U.S. financial and banking systems. NBR has released two publications—the NBR project report "Islamic Finance in Southeast Asia: Local Practice, Global Impact" and "Islamic Finance: Global Trends and Challenges," NBR Analysis 18.4 —analyzing Islamic finance trends in Southeast Asia, examining the industry's impact on the global financial system, and informing the U.S. policy and corporate communities on developments in the Islamic finance industry.
A three-year research project (2004–2007) investigating trends in
Islamic education in Southeast Asia. In its first two years, members of
the research team developed a baseline assessment of the education
systems in five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Cambodia. The essays in NBR Analysis 18.3, "Muslim
Professional Associations and Politics in Southeast Asia,"
are the products of the project’s third year (2006-07) focus on the
relationship between Islamic education and professional associations in
Indonesia and Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s two largest and most
influential Muslim-majority countries.
A 12-month project in partnership with the Singapore’s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) that included a conference in Singapore in August 2005 and follow-on events in Washington in November 2005. The project has brought together specialists from the United States and Southeast Asia to examine a range of perspectives on the challenges facing the region from China’s economic growth, increasing political influence, and military modernization program. The project is examining the nature of China’s rise as a major power in Southeast Asia and the implications for the region and the U.S. role there.
Click to view Contending Perspectives Conference Report (pdf)
Click to view China in Asia: Regional Institutions and Asian Integration Event Report (pdf)
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