Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is a poster child for a model of development—building modern infrastructure and open markets to fuel economic growth—that for almost three decades has lifted most of the region’s ten countries out of poverty. Yet beyond the beach clubs and plush five-star hotel lobbies, the heart of Southeast Asia is a dark and forbidding place where the lust for power and naked greed mean that ordinary people's lives are uncertain and insecure, with conflict never far below the calm surface of outward politeness. Confounding those who argue that democracy and stability march hand in hand with growth and development, Southeast Asia's social and political transformation has been haltingly slow and marked by pronounced periods of protracted conflict and upheaval—Thailand alone has witnessed two military coups since the turn of the twentieth century. Violence haunts the political landscape and is entrenched in the small wars that unceasingly afflict the margins. Blood and Silk begins as a journey, the author's own long voyage of discovery in the region over the past three decades. What follows is a taxonomy of sorts, a detailed delving into the different forms of conflict, ranging from the prevalence of elite power struggles with violent consequences to ethnic and religious wars, and territorial disputes. Vatikiotis aims to dispel the myth of a tropical Arcady, and give proper consideration to the grim reality of perpetual threats to lives and livelihoods in Southeast Asia. For etched on the faces of the ordinary people, whether the roadside sate seller in Jakarta, the noodle stall owner in Bangkok, or the long suffering, foot-scratching, ear-picking, tea-shop owner in Rangoon is the same weary look of resignation. They have limited scope for improving their lives, but what makes things worse is that those who do, the power holders, are selfish and narrowly focused on pursuing the interests of power and personal wealth, at their expense.