Abstract
This collection provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the major themes and issues that have defined the politics of Southeast Asia in the modern period. It brings together scholars who have influenced the way the politics of the region has been understood over several decades and others who are opening new and innovative ways of looking at things. It seeks to engage the Southeast Asian experience more family with larger debates about how modern political systems and modern states are formed and how countries and regions are drawn into the global system. The chapters will be relevant to larger, comparative and theoretical debates as well as providing solid empirical investigations.