Repost: Michael Vatikiotis - Southeast Asia and its peculiar role in global politics

This is a repost of my conversation with Michael Vatikiotis, a mediator at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and author of the excellent book ‘Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in modern Southeast Asia’. This episode was originally published on 22 Nov 2021.

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My guest today is Michael Vatikiotis who is a writer, journalist and private diplomat working in Southeast Asia (SEA) since 1987. He was formerly editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review as well as a journalist in Asia for more than three decades. He currently lives in Singapore and is the Asia Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based private foundation that facilitates dialogue to resolve armed conflicts.

Michael has written two novels set in Indonesia and three books on the politics of SEA, including ‘Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in modern Southeast Asia’, which we focused on today. Some of topics we covered include: ‘delusion’ of democracy in SEA; power of the elites; question of SEA identity; Western misunderstanding of SEA; China’s influence and role; reality of regional circumstances; US/China contestation; Australia and AUKUS; reality of adjustment and accommodation as well as issues plaguing traditional and social media.   

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Full show notes:

My guest today is Michael Vatikiotis who is a writer, journalist and private diplomat working in Southeast Asia since 1987. He was formerly editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review as well as a journalist in Asia for more than three decades. He currently lives in Singapore and is the Asia Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based private foundation that facilitates dialogue to resolve armed conflicts.

Michael has written two novels set in Indonesia and three books on the politics of Southeast Asia, including ‘Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in modern Southeast Asia’, which we’ll focus on a lot today, as well as ‘Political Change in Southeast Asia: Trimming the Banyan Tree’. His latest book ‘Lives Between The Lines: A Journey in Search of the Lost Levant’ was published in August this year. In addition to his books, Michael regularly writes opinion pieces for international and regional newspapers and is a regular contributor to outlets such Al Jazeera and the BBC.

Michael is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and gained his doctorate form the University of Oxford.

He joins me today to discuss social, political and cultural dynamics of Southeast Asia and the role it plays, or is likely to play, in the complex world of modern geopolitics.  Some of the topics we covered include:

• Michael’s background and journey to Southeast Asia
• Why Western idea of democracy remains a ‘delusion’ in SEA
• Power and influence of elites in SEA
• Identity in SEA
• Western misunderstanding of SEA and what makes it ‘tick’
• Chinese influence and role in SEA
• Diversity and values
• Reality of ASEAN
• US/China contestation and resulting friction in SEA
• Peculiar reality of the region’s position
• Sources of risks of conflict in SEA
• Australia’s role and impact of AUKUS
• Reality of ‘Easternisation’
• Geopolitical struggle of adjustment and accommodation
• Role of journalism and social media
• Reasons behind Michael’s hope