Southeast Asia and the Return of the Great Powers

Abstract

Since 2009, the United Stateshas focused its grand strategy back towards Asia, significantly reshaping the international politics of the early twenty-first century. Southeast Asia, as part of this strategic area, has thus been directly affected by the US foreign policy for the region. This article will address the basic but crucial question: why has this region become pivotal for the great powers, in particular the US, since the end of the Cold War? I argue that in order to answer this question, we have to reexamine the origins of the Cold War.