Conflict, Religion, and Culture

Since 9/11 much has been written about U.S. and European responses to terrorism, to Iraq and Afghanistan, and to tensions between Islam and the West. But countries in Asia Pacific have attracted much less attention—yet their responses reveal much not only about their respective foreign policies, but also about their internal electoral politics, the tensions of plural societies, the sway of ethnic-cultural stereotypes, the perceived sociopolitical roles that religions play, the conditioning of the mass media, and the international implications of internal armed conflicts.

Mindful of the interconnections between the global and the local, and their impact on different policy areas, the authors of this collection examine contemporary developments in four multiethnic, multifaith societies, which are also significant middle powers in Asia Pacific: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Australia.