Document Type
Graduate Syllabus
Date
Spring 2025
School
Diplomacy
Course Number
DIPL 6611/4611
Course Description
This class examines the international politics of Southeast Asia from a systems perspective. As secondary states geographically located in an area of great power interest, Southeast Asian countries have traditionally operated in an international system in which the "rules of the game" were largely written by great powers. These rules, in turn, create the context within which Southeast Asian states operate. This course explores how and why Southeast Asia evolved from a region of Western colonies to Cold War dominoes and later to one of economic dynamos. It then examines the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, changes in the balance of power between the United States, China, and Japan, and how Southeast Asia has emerged as a key focal point of U.S.-China competition. It also examines the rise of transnational challenges such as terrorism, environmental challenges such as climate change, and pandemic disease. The course attempts to determine how these contemporary events affect the ability of Southeast Asian countries to pursue key political, economic, and security interests, both individually and collectively through regional institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the regional architecture built upon it.
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Ann Marie PhD, "DIPL 6611/4611 International Relations of Southeast Asia" (2025). Diplomacy Syllabi. 832.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/diplomacy-syllabi/832
