Southeast Asia

Reflections on the ups and downs of New Mandala and the future for online academic engagement.

Medieval artefacts and manuscripts are explored by Alex West to give insight on the deep past of Southeast Asia.

A year of growth and experimentation at New Mandala, with an even bigger year ahead.

Revisit the 20 most popular articles published at New Mandala this year.

Some big-picture reflections on regime type, ethnic diversity, and ethnic exclusion.

Can the new climate change ministry navigate the complex politics of competing interests when tackling the threats of extreme weather? Or is an independent commission answerable to Parliament needed to hold the government to account?

As long as the global attitude towards religious issues doesn't change, and Malaysians themselves mostly stay silent on these issues, the temptation will always be to smother dissent in the ‘invisibility cloak of religion’.

By drawing stricter boundaries between what is ‘Islamic’ and ‘un-Islamic’, and between who is ‘Malay’ and ‘non-Malay’, the anxiety about 'Malay unity' is addressed in a post-May 9 Malaysia.

Illiberalism at home, and pro-market ideologies abroad, are putting pressure on Southeast Asian civil society organisations' financial health.

The GE14 result reflects PAS' enduring influence, yet the PH parties together with IKRAM and ABIM offer a viable ‘Islamic alternative’ for pious Muslim voters.

The ‘cari makan’ or a rent-seeking political culture may be the hardest thing to reform in Malaysia, even under a reformist government. And human nature will make this almost impossible to do.

Can former minister and prime minister Najb Razak's ‘good friend’ Shafie Apdal sweep out Sabah's incumbents at GE14, and end up delivering power to Mahathir's opposition?

Sabah needs leaders and statesmen determined to solve its long overdue need for autonomy, without fear of injuring a federal government's pride.

As Malaysia rushes to its GE14 on 9 May, the new anti-fake news law is primed against the state's critics, emboldening speech vigilantism by outsourced censors linked to the ruling UMNO party.

The New Books in Southeast Asian Studies podcast explores the idea that elections can be instrumentalised by dictators to reinforce their rule.

Welcoming the University of Sydney's Southeast Asian history bloggers to New Mandala.

Jihadists know how to take advantage of the unique space for mobilisation offered by the Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines triborder area. Governments are still catching up.

How should we respond when heritage is damaged or destroyed?

ASEAN's human rights mechanisms reflect the body's prioritising the interests of national elites. Don't expect it to be of use in resolving the Rohingya crisis.

It’s past time for us to ditch simplistic ideas of “civil society” and its relationship with democracy in the region.

The internet is both a factor in, and a victim of, the region’s crisis of democracy.

Democracy in the region finds itself in dark days. Can anything save it?

Programs to increase women’s market competitiveness aren't a substitute for collective action for gender equality.