Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation (Peace and Security in the 21st Century)

Since the 1970s, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand have wrestled with secessionist groups. They serve as case studies in this book. Each begins with a history of the insurgency, an analysis of the insurgent group's organization, operations, tactics, and capabilities before delving into the history of the peace processes and analyzing the factors that made them successful. Nothing is harder than a peace process, but the lessons of Southeast Asia show it is made possible through such factors as a national devaluation of power, bold and creative statesmanship, the successful neutralization of spoilers, and the role of neutral third party facilitators. These cases provide important lessons for the fields of counterinsurgency and peace making.

Zachary Abuza is a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC.