Darkest Moment

2019 ◽  
pp. 17-44
Author(s):  
Wen-Qing Ngoei
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Domino Logic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Way

This chapter treats Japan’s conquest of Southeast Asia as a window to the longer history of Anglo-American perceptions of the region’s interconnectedness. Japanese victories fuelled what would become the domino logic, entwining race with the struggle for ascendancy in the region, preparing the way for U.S. Cold War fixations with the perceived threat from China and its diaspora to Southeast Asia. At base, the domino theory in U.S. policy toward the region arose from apocalyptic visions of China using its diasporic links across Southeast Asia to repeat Imperial Japan’s shocking wartime triumphs over the colonial powers, the most notable of these being the fall of British-controlled Singapore in 1942.

The Best Hope

2019 ◽  
pp. 114-148
Author(s):  
Wen-Qing Ngoei
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
War Aims ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines how the creation of Malaysia in 1963—the merger of Malaya, Singapore and Britain’s Borneo territories—completed a geostrategic arc of anticommunist states in Southeast Asia, undermined Sukarno’s left-leaning regime in Indonesia, and provided a powerful fillip to U.S. Cold War aims. As Singapore prepared to enter the Malaysian federation, its anticommunist leader, Lee Kuan Yew, incarcerated his main left-wing rivals with repressive policies inherited from British colonial rule. This move ensured Britain’s military bases in Singapore would continue to serve Anglo-American interests. In addition, Britain and Malaysia launched effective diplomatic offensives against Sukarno during the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation (Konfrontasi) of the early 1960s, destabilizing the Sukarno regime and paving the way for his ouster and Indonesia’s subsequent alignment America against China and the USSR.

scholarly journals The Domino Logic of the Darkest Moment

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Qing Ngoei
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
World War ◽  
Domino Logic ◽  
Japanese Imperialism ◽  
Winston Churchill ◽  
Yellow Peril ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Stability

This essay argues that Anglo-American memories of Japan’s victory in Singapore in 1942, which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill labeled Britain’s “darkest moment” in World War II, soon would underpin the domino logic within u.s. Cold War strategy. For both American and British policymakers, Japan’s war machine had fused together in interconnected insecurity the bastions of Euro-American colonial power. In Southeast Asia, it had imposed the condition that one state’s vulnerabilities impinged upon the stability of its neighbor. This vision of Southeast Asia’s interconnected insecurity was central to the domino logic within u.s. Cold War policy. u.s. policymakers’ preoccupation with containing communism in Vietnam arose significantly from how Japan had torn into Southeast Asia from Indochina. After World War II, u.s. and British policymakers perceived Southeast Asian insecurity through both the prism of Japanese imperialism and their fears of an older “Yellow Peril"—China and Southeast Asia’s Chinese diaspora. Indeed, u.s. and British officials anticipated, as well as echoed and confirmed, each other’s suspicions that China and its diaspora would collaborate to reprise Japan’s campaign.

Anthropological communities of interpretation for Burma: An overview

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
U Chit Hlaing
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Anthropological Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis paper surveys the history of anthropological work on Burma, dealing both with Burman and other ethnic groups. It focuses upon the relations between anthropology and other disciplines, and upon the relationship of such work to the development of anthropological theory. It tries to show how anthropology has contributed to an overall understanding of Burma as a field of study and, conversely, how work on Burma has influenced the development of anthropology as a subject. It also tries to relate the way in which anthropology helps place Burma in the broader context of Southeast Asia.

The Economic History of South Africa 1948–94

2021 ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Bill Freund ◽  
Vishnu Padayachee
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Economic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

This chapter addresses the unfolding economic history of South Africa in the apartheid era (1948–94). The chapter is organized according to a periodization with 1971–73 as a marker of the break, and along specific thematic lines. These include a discussion of the way in which this history has been studied and through what theoretical lenses, before engaging with the main issues, including the impact of Afrikaner nationalism on economic growth, the way in which the minerals energy sector, which dominated early perspectives of South African economic history and perspectives, is impacted in this era of National Party rule. An analysis of the role of one major corporation (Anglo American Corporation) in shaping this economic history is followed by an assessment of the impact of the global and local crisis after c.1970 on the South African economy. An abiding theme is that of race and economic development and the way in which the impact of this key relationship of apartheid South Africa on economic growth has been studied.

scholarly journals There and back again: What the Cold War for Southeast Asia can teach us about Sino-US competition in the region today

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-312
Author(s):  
Wen-Qing Ngoei
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
History Of ◽  
Expert Commentary ◽  
The Cold War

This essay examines how the history of the Cold War in Southeast Asia has shaped, and will likely continue to shape, the current Sino-US rivalry in the region. Expert commentary today typically focuses on the agendas and actions of the two big powers, the United States and China, which actually risks missing the bigger picture. During the Cold War, leaders of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) played a critical role in containing Chinese influence, shaping the terms of Sino-US competition and rapprochement, and deepening the US presence in Southeast Asia. The legacy of ASEAN’s foreign relations during and since the Cold War imposes constraints on Chinese regional ambitions today, which militates against the popular notion that Chinese hegemony in East and Southeast Asia is inevitable. This essay underscores that current analyses of the brewing crisis in and around the South China Sea must routinely look beyond the two superpowers to the under-appreciated agency of small- and middle-sized ASEAN actors who, in reality, are the ones who hold the fate of the region in their hands.

THE INFLUENCE OF GERMAN STATE-THEORY ON THE DESIGN OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION

2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-699
Author(s):  
Nicholas Aroney
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
German State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
American Political Scientist ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis article draws attention to an important but neglected story about the dissemination of German and Swiss state-theories among English-speaking scholars in the second half of the 19th century and the influence of these ideas on those who designed and drafted the Australian Constitution. In particular, the article focuses upon the theories of federalism developed by the Swiss-born scholar, Johann Caspar Bluntschli, and the Saxon-born Georg Jellinek, and explains their influence, via the British historian, Edward A Freeman, and the American political scientist, John W Burgess, upon the framers of the Australian Constitution. The story is important because it illustrates the way in which constitutional ideas can be transmitted from one social and political context into a very different one, undergoing significant, though often subtle, modifications and adaptations in the process. The story is also important because it sheds light on the way in which the framers of the Australian Constitution came to conceive of the kind of federal system that they wished to see created. The story seems to have been overlooked, however, not only due to a general neglect of the intellectual history of the Australian Constitution, but also due to the assumption that prevailing Australian political and legal ideas were of Anglo-American provenance. While this assumption generally holds true, a closer examination of the intellectual context of Australian federalism reveals a surprisingly significant German influence on the framers of the Australian Constitution.

Four Theories of the Press

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Nerone
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Theoretical Structure ◽  
Western Development ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
The Way

Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm’s Four Theories of the Press has been a powerful influence on scholarship on comparative press systems and normative press theories in the years since its publication in 1956. Its appeal comes from the way it combined a history of Western development with a normative schema that is simple and teachable. Critics have pointed out the shortcomings of both its historical accounts and its theoretical structure, charging that the book expressed a Cold War mentality, elided non-Western and nonliberal theories and practices, and neglected the complicating dimensions of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. Critics also note that actual press systems are usually governed by hybrid norms, and that press systems are increasingly interconnected, overlapping, and global. Yet, Four Theories of the Press retains significant influence despite these criticisms. One reason is that no real replacement has appeared and it is unlikely that a new map of normative theories will win acceptance. The work emerged at a unique moment of Western liberal global hegemony and a successor would require a similar hegemonic moment.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Wen-Qing Ngoei
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Colonial Order ◽  
Southeast Asian Countries

This introduction presents an overview of the book’s study of imperial transition in Southeast Asia from the colonial order through Anglo-American predominance to U.S. empire. It explains that the book examines two Southeast Asian countries—Malaya and Singapore—marginalized by major studies of U.S. policy to illuminate regional developments in U.S.-Southeast Asian relations otherwise overlooked by the predominant focus of historians on U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Using this wide-angle view of Southeast Asia, the book reveals how the bases of U.S. Cold War policy draw from longstanding Euro-American anxieties about race, specifically the perceived threat of China and its diaspora to western power. From this insight, the book is able to reveal that Britain, the United States and their indigenous anticommunist allies crafted a pro-West nationalism underpinned by region-wide anti-Chinese prejudice, a process that ensconced most Southeast Asian regimes within the American orbit even as U.S. policy failed in Vietnam.

Race and Diplomacy in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Lewis Scarnecchia
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Archival Source ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Robert Mugabe ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Uk

The 'Rhodesian crisis' of the 1960s and 1970s, and the early 1980s crisis of independent Zimbabwe, can be understood against the background of Cold War historical transformations brought on by, among other things, African decolonization in the 1960s; the failure of American power in Vietnam and the rise of Third World political power at the UN and elsewhere. In this African history of the diplomacy of decolonization in Zimbabwe, Timothy Lewis Scarnecchia examines the relationship and rivalry between Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe over many years of diplomacy, and how both leaders took advantage of Cold War racialized thinking about what Zimbabwe should be, including Anglo-American preoccupations with keeping whites from leaving after Independence. Based on a wealth of archival source materials, including materials that have recently become available through thirty-year rules in the UK and South Africa, it uncovers how foreign relations bureaucracies the US, UK, and SA created a Cold War 'race state' notion of Zimbabwe that permitted them to rationalize Mugabe's state crimes in return for Cold War loyalty to Western powers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document