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Re: SEA/ASEAN regional actors in res.

On Wed, 18 Jun 1997, Jorge Medina wrote:

> that I make in my previous post. The thing is, they really aren't assumptons 
> at all, this is what the leaders of some of the countries of SE Asia are 
> saying especially  the leaders of Malyasia and Indonesisia. I've read three 

Precisely my point.  The leaders of these nations have found a convenient
justification for deflecting Western criticism, i.e. "Asians have a
different view of human rights."  Malaysia and Indonesia are excellent
examples: if you ask an Indonesian government representative, OF COURSE
he's going to say that his policies are appropriate.  Ask an East Timorese
and you might get a very different response.  However, since dissent has
effectively been criminalized in many Asian nations, it is very difficult
to find out what the people really think.  When we say "Oh, yeah, the
Asian mindset is different," we are indeed making an assumption: we are
assuming that the stories told by the Governments in that region are 100%
correct..

> are the ones SE Asia likes ASEAN. Also two of the books dedicate several
> chapers to what they call "Asian-Style Democracy". Many countries in the
> region are fed up with not only US heg. but the western democracy and
> values. Many SE Asian countries feel that western indivdualism is
> destorying the society (ie Singapore and the two above). They want to
> institute democracy and rights their way not ours. I'm not saying it's

Once again, this does not deny the possibility that many people disagree
with what their governments are claiming.  Where is the historical warrant
for this claim of "Asian-style democracy"?  Singapore's approach recently
has been to litigate dissenters out of the country, though more violent
approaches have also been employed.  How can we say that the Singaporean
government is accurately characterizing the mood of the nation when we
have no way of knowing what the rest of the population thinks? 

The test for this is to move it to another part of the world and see if we
feel the same way.  How about the great "Fundamentalist Islamic-style
democracies" in the Middle East?  These governments claim that women, for
example, are perfectly happy there.  This is unprovable, since the women
are not permitted to speak to outsiders.  Are we making an imperial
imposition of values by encouraging such nations to allow dissent?  If so,
then the people, once allowed to express dissent freely, would simply
express their love of the theocracy instead.  If the Asian people really
support Singapore's autocratic government, why would that government be
reluctant to permit them free expression?  If this is truly "Asian-style
democracy," then everyone would agree, right?

I made a reference to US hegemony in Asia, but I agree with your point
that most Asian nations are probably fed up with Western hegemony in
general.  To a great extent, though, the two are interchangeable.

          --Alan

__________________
Alan Dove
N3IMU
ad52@columbia.edu
http://128.59.173.136/Poliolab/Alan/Dove.html
References:
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