Three countries, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, each represent a different security relationship with the U.S. The U.S. has had a long security tie with the Philippines. Although there are no longer house American forces, the Mutual Defense Treaty remains in effect. Malaysia has taken a approach to its national security by employing a more neutral orientation by not antagonizing China. Singapore has been more proactive in developing its security ties with the U.S. It has taken specific steps in the effort to keep the U.S. engaged in the region. The first section outlines the nature of the U.S. military presence in East Asia from the Cold War to post-Cold War periods. The second identifies some real and potential security threats in the region from the American perspective. The final section reports the results of a series of more than 50 interviews conducted in Washington and in each of the three countries, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, based on the following questions of vital national security objectives and threats.

This volume identifies the pattern of military spending in the Southeast Asian region over the past ten to fifteen years and provides explanations for the variations in spending rates. Two overview essays evaluate the role of threat perceptions and systemic variables on the shaping of defence spending while a third examines the methodological problems involved in assessing defence expenditures. In the case studies that follow, eight Southeast Asian countries are looked at systematically to see how their heterogeneous defence spending patterns are shaped by factors such as the geopolitical environment, the sense of threat and vulnerability, the decision-making structures, the military procurement patterns, and external affiliations.

Power and Prosperity brings together senior scholars, policy officials, and international journalists to provide diverse perspectives on regional dynamics and domestic intricacies in the Pacific Rim countries and to examine the effects of changing security patterns on economic relations and growth. The contributions highlight the degree to which economic and security policies are connected and show how policymakers can build upon the positive dimensions of regional and international ties to increase trust and limit the development of security dilemmas.

Anti-U.S. base protests, played out in parliaments and the streets of host nations, continue to arise in different parts of the world. In a novel approach, this book examines the impact of anti-base movements and the important role bilateral alliance relationships play in shaping movement outcomes. The author explains not only when and how anti-base movements matter, but also how host governments balance between domestic and international pressure on base-related issues. Drawing on interviews with activists, politicians, policy makers and U.S. base officials in the Philippines, Japan (Okinawa), Ecuador, Italy and South Korea, the author finds that the security and foreign policy ideas held by host government elites act as a political opportunity or barrier for anti-base movements, influencing their ability to challenge overseas U.S. basing policies.

First Published in 1992. This book examines the elements of continuity and change in Philip pine politics and government over the last quarter century. The period covered, from the early 1960s through 1988, encompasses three distinct phases: the decline of traditional elite democracy, the imposition of martial law and constitutional authoritarianism under Ferdinand Marcos, and, most recently, the restoration of democracy under Corazon Aquino.

This far-ranging volume offers both a broad overview of the role of the military in contemporary Asia and a close look at the state of civil-military relations in sixteen Asian countries. It discusses these relations in countries where the military continues to dominate the political realm as well as others where it is disengaging from politics.