Conflict Dynamics and Transformations in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The present ASEAS issue features a focus on 'Conflict Dynamics and Trans- formations in Southeast Asia'. It brings together topical works of researchers from various academic fields that offer a comprehensive perspective on current developments in some of the region's political, social, and environmental con- flicts as well as on approaches to their management and resolution. The con- tributions include case studies from Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand, as well as analyses of the status and prospects of regional security co- operation within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).The complex and interdependent nature of conflicts makes it inevitable to study their causes and potential solutions through approaches that transcend the borders of classical academic disciplines. In his comprehensive monograph Peace by Peaceful Means, Johan Galtung (1996), the 'father' of peace research, reminds us just how challenging and intellectually demanding peace research is. He argues that this is owed to the many spaces in which peace and conflict researchers have to search for causes, conditions, and contexts in order to un- derstand their subject of study (Galtung, 1996, p. 1). Thus, the multi- and inter- disciplinary character of area studies - here, Southeast Asian Studies - provides a suitable framework for deciphering the multilayered trajectories of conflicts, which, after all, might contribute to their peaceful transformation.Despite its political, religious, and ethnic diversity, Southeast Asia is by no means more prone to inter- or intrastate conflicts than other regions of the world. On the contrary, especially with regard to interstate conflicts, the mem- ber states of ASEAN rightfully claim that the norm of non-interference in do- mestic issues and consensus diplomacy has largely spared the region the terrors of interstate armed conflict. Yet, the postcolonial states of Southeast Asia are still the arena of a significant number of domestic armed conflicts in which resis- tance and liberation movements (Dudouet, 2009) are challenging the respective nation states by striving for greater self-determination or even secession, with all the tragic consequences.On the other hand, during the last decade, Southeast Asian governments have gradually moved away from military conflict resolution approaches. It ap- pears that the mode of procedural conflict resolution (Elwert, 2004) through legitimate institutions is becoming the dominant norm in managing domestic violent conflict. Timo Kivimaki (2012, pp. 419-420), for example, shows that battle deaths related to violent conflicts in Southeast Asia have significantly de- clined since the mid-2000s. Indeed, since the formation of Southeast Asia's post- colonial states following the end of the Second World War, the region has never been as peaceful as it is today (Vatikiotis, 2009, p. 28). Recent successful conflict mediation processes underline this trend, for example, that between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia in 2005 and the comprehensive peace accord be- tween the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Philip- pines in the southern Philippines in March 2014.This issue begins with a regional macro-perspective, proceeds to a comparative national perspective, and finally offers thickly described empirical case studies at the micro-level. In the first two articles, the authors address one of the most hotly debated issues with regard to the increasingly integrating ASEAN: regional secu- rity cooperation. Henning Borchers ponders the possibility of the development of an ASEAN peacekeeping force despite member states' reluctance towards a regional conflict resolution mechanism, as this could challenge ASEAN's constitutive norm of non-interference in domestic politics of its member states. Borchers argues that the progress in institutionalizing regional cooperation regarding 'soft' security issues - such as environmental challenges - stands to facilitate a slow deepening of 'hard' security cooperation at the ASEAN level, which can deepen political trust among member states. …