Thailand In The Cold War Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Thailand In The Cold War book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
Thailand’s position during the Cold War was ambiguous: the country’s political leadership was very keen to maintain the country’s independence on the world stage, yet at the same time was anxious to establish the country’s credentials as staunchly anti-communist. However, as this book argues, Thailand, though never formally a client state of the United States, was very closely embedded in the Western camp through the commitment of Thailand’s cosmopolitan urban communities to developing a modern, consumerist lifestyle. Considering popular culture, including film, literature, fashion, tourism and attitudes towards Buddhism, the book shows how an ideology of consumerism and integration into a "free world" culture centred in the United States gradually took hold and became firmly established, and how this popular culture and ideology was fundamental in determining Thailand’s international political alignment.
Thailand’s position during the Cold War was ambiguous: the country’s political leadership was very keen to maintain the country’s independence on the world stage, yet at the same time was anxious to establish the country’s credentials as staunchly anti-communist. However, as this book argues, Thailand, though never formally a client state of the United States, was very closely embedded in the Western camp through the commitment of Thailand’s cosmopolitan urban communities to developing a modern, consumerist lifestyle. Considering popular culture, including film, literature, fashion, tourism and attitudes towards Buddhism, the book shows how an ideology of consumerism and integration into a "free world" culture centred in the United States gradually took hold and became firmly established, and how this popular culture and ideology was fundamental in determining Thailand’s international political alignment.
Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- One: The Buddhist World and the United States at the Onset of the Cold War, 1941-1954 -- Two: Washington Formulates a Buddhist Policy, 1954-1957 -- Three: Thailand and the International Buddhist Arena, 1956-1962 -- Four: Reforming the Monks: The Cold War and Clerical Education in Thailand and Laos, 1954-1961 -- Five: Thailand and the International Response to the 1963 Buddhist Crisis in South Vietnam -- Six: Enforcing the Code: South Vietnam's "Struggle Movement" and the Limits of Thai Buddhist Conservatism -- Seven: Thailand's Buddhist Hierarchy Confronts Its Challengers, 1967-1975 -- Eight: The Rage of Thai Buddhism, 1975-1980 -- Conclusion: From Byoto to Kittivudho -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z
This book focuses on the neglected cultural front of the Cold War in Asia to explore the mindsets of Asian actors and untangle the complex cultural alliances that undergirded the security blocs on this continent.
The Border Patrol Police (BPP) of Thailand was formed as a United States CIA's paramilitary intelligence force in the early 1950s. In the early 1960s, changes in Thailand's political leadership and the US government's strategies for fighting the spread of communism in Southeast Asia led to a transformation of the BPP. The organization became a civic action agency supported by the US Agency for International Development and the Thai monarchy. Its civic actions, pinned on advancing anticommunist modernization, civilian counterinsurgency, and royalist nationalism, soon extended from the margins to the center of Thailand, and contributed to building the border of Thainess (khwam pen thai). The growing tension between the royalist network, consisting of military and rightwing groups, and the democratization movements culminated in a massacre. On October 6, 1976, the Village Scout, a rural vigilante group that the BPP created through its civic actions, and the Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit (PARU), a subunit of the BPP, attacked peaceful protesters at Thammasat University. The success of a military coup on the same day solidified the victory of the royalist network, and it would continue to dominate Thai politics and society into the post-Cold War era. Through a study of the Border Patrol Police's transformations, Indigenizing the Cold War shows how the Thai ruling elite unfailingly pursued their nation-building. With an introduction of the "indigenization" concept and an in-depth analysis of postcolonial nation-building, this work challenges conventional Cold War studies. The Cold War in Thailand was not always and only about an ideological conflict between the communist and anticommunist. It was a war between the local ruling elite and the people, each pushing forward their visions for constructing a new nation-state. The indigenization framework helps one to see the nature and impacts of the collaboration between global superpowers and the Asian local ruling elite; it exposes an arrangement that took advantage of the American Cold War to legitimize and continue their authoritarian regimes.
As World War II came to an end, a period of distrust settled over the world. Southeast Asia was no different. The spectre of Communism stalked the stage. The threat of a global nuclear war hung thick in the air. The struggle for domination between the Americans and the Russians came up against the burgeoning nationalism of the liberated states. In this highly combustible climate, what was to emerge? This book reveals in fascinating detail, country by country, how the Cold War shaped the destiny of Southeast Asia. The competition among the world powers – the USA, USSR, Britain, China – led to dramatically differing fates for the region. Vietnam was to be the worst affected, effectively destroyed in the clash between superpowers, at tremendous cost to all sides. In Malaya and Singapore, the British fought a long-drawn-out Communist insurgency that broke out in 1948 – an insurgency they saw as part of a consolidated Cold War movement inspired by Moscow or Beijing. But was it? As this volume shows, the states of Southeast Asia were never mere pawns in an international war of ideology. Many local players in fact strategically manipulated Cold War doctrines to their own political advantage – chief among them Indonesia’s Suharto, who played the anti-Communist card with aplomb. Till now, no book has examined this watershed era across the entire region. Cold War Southeast Asia in doing so not only offers a panoramic account of a turning point in SEA history, but also illuminates the global ramifications of the Cold War, and the makings of the world order as we know it today.
Author : N Ganesan Publisher : Institute of Southeast Asian Page : 372 pages File Size : 44,45 MB Release : 2010 Category : Political Science ISBN : 9814279579
"The central theme of this book is the utility of bilateralism and multilateralism in Southeast Asia international relations. The intention was to examine a sufficient number of empirical cases in the Southeast Asian region since the mid-1970's so as to establish a pattern of interactions informing a wider audience of interactions unique to the region. Through these case studies, we seek to identify how this pattern of interaction compares with similar experiences elsewhere vis-a-vis the theoretical underpinnings of multilateralism and bilateralism. Consequently, this book also examines the theoretical drift in international relations literature at the broadest level and the overall drift of Southeast Asian international relations between the nations themselves and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)."--P. xv.
"Thai politics is driven by actors and actions of paradox such as anti-election movements for accountability or independent, partisan organizations. This lucidly written book uncovers the 'military-led civil affairs' that earn the armed forces the omnipotent role in Thai society. It enriches our understanding of the Thai military in both empirical and theoretical ways. Empirically, the book illuminates how the soldiers have been intensively involved in supposedly civic activities ranging from forest land management to poverty reduction. Such long-lasting and extensive involvement means the military could mobilize the organized mass of over 500,000 strong when necessary. Theoretically, readers will learn how an ideological discourse (“threats to national security”) has been continuously redefined to serve the military’s evolving political and rent-seeking missions from the Cold War era to the twenty-first century. It also traces the persistence and mutation of this highly adaptable organization, the one that knows when to roar and when to camouflage. Still waters run deep; Thai military operations run deeper and wider."--Veerayooth Kanchoochat, Associate Professor of Political Economy, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo “A truly monumental work about Thailand’s military from the 1960s until today, this solid study focuses upon the armed forces’ internal security role across Thai society, how the military has succeeded in legitimizing itself and boosting its power as a counterinsurgency force, guardian of monarchy and engine of development. The book also valuably looks at the military’s establishment of mass organizations beginning during the Cold War and mobilization of royalists since 2006. The book thus illustrates how the military has been able to enhance and sustain its overwhelming influence and is thus a valuable study for anyone wanting to understand key power-brokers in Thailand.”— Dr Paul Chambers, Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Thailand.