The Southeast Asian Cockpit

Abstract

There has been struggle and warfare in South east Asia for many centuries. The deeply rooted tensions and old hostilities which underlie many of the current conflicts in this ancient cockpit will persist regardless of the outcome, or even the existence, of the Cold War between the Communist and the actively anti-Communist nations. This internal intra- Asian strife is often separate from the much more publicized struggle for Southeast Asia by the great-power leaders in the Cold War which we follow closely. As old European empires die out in Southeast Asia, new Asian empires rise. The clash be tween "Greater Indonesia" and the Federation of Malaysia is a kind of flash back to ancient imperial wars and also a preview of the future. China's resurgence as a great power promises to make her thrust back into areas she once dominated for centuries. The long drawn-out wars in Vietnam have involved the United States more and more deeply without correspond ingly rewarding efforts either to eliminate guerrilla attacks on South Vietnam or to foster a stable and progressive society in South Vietnam. Neutralization of all Vietnam, as for Laos, may be the least undesirable alternative that remains after more than a decade of great effort to stave off Communist domination of former French Indo-China. Co-operative free Asian resistance to communism is a remote possibility.