Although the inhabitants of the region now known as Southeast Asia have interacted for many centuries, Southeast Asia as a single entity and as a world region materialized politically only during the Second World War in the Pacific theatre. It was reinforced as the newly formed nation-states gained independence from their colonial masters after the war. While the post-colonial borders of Southeast Asian states echo those drawn by their previous colonizers, the new realities of these post-colonial nations generated new relations both within the region and between the region and the rest of the world. Craig Lockard traces the complexities of these dynamics in his Southeast Asia in World History.
The vast and diverse region of Southeast Asia began to emerge as an entity not long after the end of the Second World War, but, compared with other regions of Asia, it has remained less familiar to outsiders in the decades since. Prior to the war, the area was viewed as part of the “Far East.” Either designation oversimplifies the centuries of dynamic interaction both within the region and between the various peoples of Southeast Asia and those outside their borders. This oversimplified categorization of the region can be both productive and problematic.
The author aims to illuminate the shared dynamism of the region's past, and traces the vibrant connections and interactions among the people of Southeast Asia and between Southeast Asians and people beyond the region; these dynamic interactions continue into the present. The book is divided into eleven chapters based on chronological time periods, each highlighting the significance of the period in relation to the dynamics of the world in general. Using this structure, the book is both useful for those who are familiar with the region and for those who are still novices to Southeast Asian Studies.
While Lockard's main theme emphasizes the connections and relations of Southeast Asia to other regions as taking place through trade, cultural exchange, and religious contacts, Lockard also shows that it is local people who are active players in cultural exchanges with larger and more powerful entities; over time local people consciously and actively produced unique mixed cultures by integrating indigenous flavors and interpretations into immense influences from outside. He states that Southeast Asians “took ideas that they wanted from outsiders and adapted them to their own use, creating in the process a distinctive synthesis” (p. 35). Lockard further elaborates that Southeast Asia, “… had long been a region where peoples, ideas, and products met, and this trend has continued into the present” (p. 74). This statement becomes the major theme that resonates in each chapter.
Another strength of this book is in its detailed narrative. Lockard incorporates many primary sources into his work. The sources range from ancient stone inscriptions, to foreign travel writings, to local myths and folklore, to poetry. By utilizing these sources, Lockard establishes a compelling narrative of how Southeast Asian societies function in the face of relentless foreign influences. In essence, by utilizing local primary sources, Lockard expresses the voices from within Southeast Asia, thus stressing the significance of local actors in realizing cultural change.
While Lockard lucidly explains how Southeast Asia has been connected to the rest of the world since early times, and clearly explains how the region receives and perceives foreign influences, he rarely mentions the contribution of the region to the world beyond Southeast Asian boundaries. His omission reinforces a long-established impression that the region only contributes cash crops, commodities, and spices to the world.
The author, however, does provide another way to observe Southeast Asia's “contribution” to the world through the geopolitical lenses in which the region—because of its strategic position and diverse ideological outlook—has shaped the interests and policy of the World Powers during the Second World War and subsequently the Cold War.
For example, Lockard has clearly described the situation in Southeast Asia after the end of the Second World War, and indicated that the region is one of the major battlegrounds of the Cold War. The Cold War in Southeast Asia showed its hot and bloody nature through the involvement of the United States in Vietnam and in the various anti-communist regimes flourishing at the time. It is during this period when the world became sharply divided between the “Red” communist Eastern Bloc and the so-called “free World” of the Western bloc. In this context, Southeast Asia became one of the most prominent regions in the world, a role it continues in terms of influencing decisions made by both blocs in their global strategies.
Lockard's Southeast Asia in World History must be welcomed as a fascinating addition to the literature on Southeast Asian Studies as well as World History. At present this book provides the most up to date information about Southeast Asia, and will make a good textbook reader for college-level introductory courses on Southeast Asian history. Moreover, to aid understanding, the book includes a chronology highlighting major events in Southeast Asia along with complete bibliography listing the sources consulted for each chapter. The book also has a list of further reading and Internet sources on various topics on Southeast Asia. With the range of information provided, Lockard's work is an invaluable resource for anyone who has an interest in Southeast Asia. Readers will find ample and clear background information useful for beginners, while experts will be pleased to find good up-to-date information about this vast and ever dynamic region.
