Securing Southeast Asia: The Politics of Security Sector Reform

This book uniquely applies the security reform agenda to Southeast Asia. It investigates recent developments in civil-military relations in the region, looking in particular at the impact and utility of the agenda on the region and assessing whether it is likely to help make the region more stable and less prone to military interventions.

It provides an historical overview of the region’s civil-military relations and goes on to explore the dynamics of civil-military relations within the context of the security sector reform framework, focusing on the experiences of four of the region’s militaries: Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. It argues that although regional militaries have not necessarily followed a ‘Western’ model, significant developments have occurred that are broadly in keeping with the security sector reform agenda, and which suggests that the prospects for stable civil-military relations are brighter than some sceptics believe.

Mark Beeson is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham. His research is centred on the politics, economics and security of East Asia. His latest book is Regionalism, Globalization and East Asia (Palgrave, 2007).

Alex Bellamy is Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland. His research is centred on the normative dimensions of military power. His latest book is Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq (Polity, 2006).