The fight against terrorism and the mutation of democracy in Thailand
Susanne Feske, Siwach Pholpai
Grey Area Phenomena, as mentioned in Sebastian Hiltner’s article, pose a serious challenge to the foundation and the security of a nation state. They not only threaten a country’s stability, but they also threaten the cohesiveness of the political system. In most cases consolidated democracies are resilient enough to absorb these threats, but for unconsolidated democracies the government’s involvement in the fight against terrorism puts a country’s democratization process at risk. Particularly proactive and pre-emptive strategies undermine the country’s newly achieved democratic norms and rules. In some cases the government might be inclined to authoritarian structures. In some cases the fight against terrorism might even be instrumentalized for legitimizing the government’s authoritarian measures. Thailand is a case in point. In this article we argue that for Thailand as an unconsolidated democracy the fight against separatist and terrorists in the Southern provinces has caused a transformation both in government and civil society which are closely related. The fight against terrorism increases the gap between the two major ethnic groups – Muslims and Buddhists – which in turn lead to a destabilization of Thai society. The fight against terrorism de-legitimizes the government which, as a consequence, returns to authoritarian structures.
Manuscript received on 2008-07-02 and accepted on 2008-09-04
Keywords: Thailand, Democracy, Transformation, Terrorism
Ideology, institutions, political actions: Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in Indonesia
Ahmad-Norma Permata
This article studies the political behavior of an Indonesian Islamist party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Critics have argued that there are undemocratic elements in the PKS ideology – such as mixing religion with politics and its perceptions on gender equality and religious pluralism – and thus its participation in democratic politics seems to be neither serious nor sustainable. Applying North's theory of new institutionalism, this research found that ideology is dominant as a guideline for party behavior whenever the formal institutions are ineffective, and it will be less so when the formal rules of the game function properly.
Manuscript received on 2008-07-11 and accepted on 2008-09-07
Keywords: Indonesia, Prosperous Justice Party, ideology, institutionalism, democratization
Moral Authority in Burmese Politics
Stephan Engelkamp
This article analyses moral authority as a power resource in Burmese politics. Which strategies did Burmese power holders pursue to stabilize political rule? Did the Burmese sangha employ moral authority merely to legitimize the political rule of the regime, or did it influence Burmese politics? Tracing back the religious and ritual practices that constitute legitimate authority in post-independence Burma, I argue that in order to study Burmese politics, one need to distinguish legitimate authority from the Western notion of democratic accountability. In contemporary Burma, it seems as if a change has taken place since Ne Win seized power in 1962. Even though the military government tried to use Buddhist norms and rituals as ‘traditional’ values to legitimize their power, the power holders stopped being the traditional ‘patron’ of the sangha. Instead, the State Law and Order Restoration Council officials employed a strategy of ‘ritual displacement’ to transfer moral authority from religious communities directly to the state. What is more, the way Burmese rulers use religion as a moral power resource opens a field of essentially contested meanings of legitimate authority, in which political actors struggle for discursive hegemony. Different social actors tried to discursively influence the interpretation of what counts as morally acceptable political behaviour. Specifically, I examine the different ways in which the state under the successive leadership of U Nu, Ne Win and Than Shwe tried to employ moral authority to stabilize their power. The political relevance of these contested meanings could be witnessed during the events in Burma in 2007.
Manuscript received on 2008-07-15 and accepted on 2008-08-26
Keywords: Burma, Myanmar, Moral Authority, Power, Legitimacy,
Sangha, Buddhism, Religion
Facing Grey Area Phenomena – Transformation through Transnational Crime and Violence in Southeast Asia
Sebastian Hiltner
Transnational crime and violence are not new to Southeast Asia. The sovereign sensitivities are still strong in this region, which detained effective measures against these threats to the stability and wealth of nation states. Although ASEAN would be an excellent platform and basis for cooperation and security strategies, most Southeast Asian states practice their own security policy. But there are signs for a transformation heading towards a cooperative direction.
The following article substantiates this transformation by drawing on the concept of Grey Area Phenomena (GAP) and the efforts against these phenomena by Southeast Asian states on the ASEAN arena. In doing so, the high pressure on interior and exterior sovereignty caused by GAP gives no political and financial alternative to a transformation. The acceptance for a decrease of sovereign sensitivities is growing and makes way for a regional security strategy with mutual cross-border cooperation.
Manuscript received on 2008-08-01 and accepted on 2008-09-15
Keywords: Thailand, Grey Area Phenomena, ASEAN, Co-operation,
Transformation, Security Policy
Explaining the potential for conflict: Malaysia between tradition and modernity
Rebecca Hegemann
What happens if an authoritarian state strives for economical modernization? Will it be able to stay in power and adhere to the existing system? Or will a transformation process begin which finally leads to a democratisation of state and society? Malaysia faces exactly this kind of dilemma. This research note provides some starting points for a detailed analysis of this process with the aspect of education in the central role. A modern economy asks for highly skilled, i.e. well educated workers and for a certain set of modern values. This might cause a clash with traditional social values. What has to be examined is whether the government can be successful in harmonising both sets of values and what actions it undertakes to avoid a social and, in the end, a political change.
Keywords: Malaysia, modernization, education, knowledge society, value debate
Why does ASEAN need a Charter? Pushing actors and their national interests
Rabea Volkmann
After forty years of its existence ASEAN decided to draft a Charter. In November 2007, the heads of state and government of the member states signed the Charter, the national ratification processes are going on. For forty years, the Association has been known for the highly informal 'ASEAN Way' of diplomacy. By introducing a Charter and giving the association a formal framework, this informality is abandoned to a certain extent. The article examines the question why ASEAN introduced a Charter. Based on interviews, newspaper articles and speeches, the article analyses which ASEAN member states have been pushing for the Charter and why. Firstly, the article formulates the assumption that Singapore and Indonesia are the most important actors that pushed for the Charter. Both of them have the capabilities and the political will to influence on ASEAN and to push for more integration. The second part examines the interests Indonesia and Singapore pursued in pushing for the Charter. Cooperation is always a means to realize interests, which are essential to understand why ASEAN has introduced a Charter. This article concludes that Singapore has mainly economic interests that it wants to realize through the Charter, or more specifically through the image Singapore hopes ASEAN will get by adopting the Charter. Indonesia has mainly security interests, which include democracy and human rights, as Indonesia adheres to the concept of human security. Hence, Singapore and Indonesia have different interests but both have the interest to improve the image of ASEAN and of themselves in the world and in their countries.
Keywords: ASEAN; ASEAN Charter; Singapore;Indonesia; interests
Wie interessiert sind Japaner und Deutsche
aneinander? – Eine Auswertung des neuen Google-Dienstes „Insights for Search“
Werner Pascha
Der neue kostenlose „Insights for Search“-Dienst von Google (www.google.de
/insights/search) erlaubt wertvolle Einsichten in die Informationsnachfrage und die Interessenfelder von Individuen, die sich im Internet bewegen, etwa im deutsch-japanischen Kontext. Damit sind jetzt fundiertere Aussagen dazu möglich, ob sich z. B. durch Veranstaltungen wie das Deutschlandjahr in Japan 2005/06 die bilaterale Aufmerksamkeit steigern lässt.
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