This course raises questions about different ways security politics can be viewed and applied in contemporary Southeast Asia. It will start with a review of major theoretical premises to security as they apply to that region. What is ?security? in a Southeast Asian context and how does regional thinking about that concept vary from ?Western? approaches?  Postwar security legacies in the sub-region will then be reviewed.  With this background, tensions between post-colonialisation processes and regional interaction with external powers can be explored more systematically.  The remainder of the course will examine the nature and gravity of contemporary security developments in the region. These include the role of globalisation; various intra-regional and inter-regional bilateral relationships, and multilateral security initiatives and institutions.  Selected issues-areas such as terrorism and security regime building also will be investigated.  The course is designed to enhance students? conceptual and empirical understanding of an increasingly dynamic and strategically critical region within the overall international security arena.

4,000 words of essays and a three-hour closed book examination or equivalent.

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