Book Review: Mietzner, M. (Ed.) (2013). The Political Resurgence of the Military in Southeast Asia: Conflict and Leadership.

Abstract

Book Review: Mietzner, M. (Ed.) (2013). Political Resurgence of the Military in Southeast Asia: Conflict and Leadership. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. Reprint edition. ISBN: 978-041-5460354. i-xiv + 177 pages.* Chen, K. (2014). Book Review: Mietzner, M. (Ed.) (2013). political resurgence of the military in Southeast Asia: Conflict and leadership. ASEAS - Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 7(1), 137-140.Since the early twenty-first century, some Southeast Asian countries (e.g., Thailand and Timor-Leste) have witnessed the political resurgence of militaries, especially military involvement in political institutions, economy, security, and society. most significant case might be the Thai military coup in 2006. More research in the field of military resurgence is called for to extend the debate on the civil-military relations. Political Resurgence of the Military in Southeast Asia is a timely exploration of the impact of militaries on politics in different geographical contexts and exposes the tensions and interconnections in civil- military relations in Southeast Asian countries.The contributors to this wide-ranging volume stem from an array of disci- plines, including history, political science, security studies, and Southeast Asian studies. In their opinion, the multifaceted aspects of the militaries' political re- surgence are ignored by structuralist approaches to a large extent, such as speci- fic ideology (i.e., communism or democracy), regime types (i.e., monarchy, mili- tary junta, or one-party state), historical background (i.e., independence through armed struggle, negotiated transition into nationhood, or absence of colonial rule), and economic development.The volume features eight chapters. Chapter 1 illustrates the literature of military resurgence in Southeast Asia and outlines the book's content. Based on case studies of seven Southeast Asian countries (i.e., Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Singapore), Chapters 2 to 8 reveal the causes of military resurgence - failed civilian governance and the problematic leadership of paramount leaders determine the civil-military rela- tions. In the case of Thailand, the struggle for democracy finally caused a vicious circle, which in turn is used by the military to justify coercive and political role in restoring order (p. 59).At the same time, the militaries show less respect for the citizenry and turn to strengthen corporate identity and coherence (p. 54), that is, fractionaliza- tion. In the case of the Philippines, since the current institutions are unable to handle the security issues and political conflicts, the military withdraws its loy- alty from a popularly elected chief executive (p. 101) and enjoys more autonomy and political status to a large extent. In contrast, the Singaporean military lacks the socio-political significance (p. 164) and there is no obvious change in Sin- gapore's civil-military relations, given that the civilian government in Singapore has remained stable since the 1960sThe contributors also point out that the military dominance has own limits. For example, there is increasing tension between high-ranking ex-officers and the new generation of officers, the newly established units, as well as the military. In the case of Timor-Leste, the rise of specialized paramilitary police units has threatened the advantages of the military.The most significant chapter of this volume might be Chapter 2 entitled The Armed Force of Burma. As Marcus Mietzner suggests, with the exception of Burma, Southeast Asian civil-military relations after 2001 have been shaped by the success- es and failures of civilian governments (p. …