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During the Cold War, the opposing stances of the US and USSR caused a bipolar global system that lacked a unipolar centre of power, leading to a stronger centrifugal pull. The Vietnam War made Southeast Asia a hotbed for these tensions. Following the fall of French troops in Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the US aimed to solidify its position and successfully created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) through the efforts of Secretary of State Dulles and like-minded nations. To explain the political implications, the Michael Brecher geographical framework has been chosen. This framework highlights the dominant and subordinate systems of international relations during the Cold War period and describes the operation and evolution of SEATO. By incorporating guidelines into the charter, the treaty zone became a space where signatories could resolve their issues. This reference framework helps to identify the causal determinant in the stimuli of an individual signatory. Despite being a group of countries with varied interests, the interaction between the US and Thailand during the Vietnam War showed that Thailand's skilful aggregation of marginal gains resulted from its inherent paranoia against the Vietnam syndrome. Furthermore, the study reveals that Thailand had a significant influence in shaping Washington's policy for Southeast Asia and used its gains as a launching pad to control the spread of Communism. Bibliography Entry Javed, Tauseef, Sun Jiandang and Ayisha Khurshid. 2023. "Revisiting Thailand's Paranoia: SEATO As a Safeguard Against Vietnam Syndrome." Margalla Papers 27 (1): 138-154.

Environmental context: Airborne particulate matter (PM) is a major public health risk in Southeast Asia. The annual average concentration of fine PM (PM2.5) in the region is significantly higher than the WHO air quality guidelines, and higher PM2.5 levels were recorded during dry seasons, primarily due to biomass burning. In this paper, we provide an overview of the seasonal variations in concentrations, chemical compositions, and sources of PM in Southeast Asian countries. Airborne particulate matter (PM) in Southeast Asia is the most important air pollutant, causing millions of premature deaths. This review provides an overview of the levels, chemical compositions and sources of PM and compared these with studies from megacities in other regions. Daily average PM2.5 concentrations were lower than polluted megacities such as Delhi but substantially higher than 24-h mean air quality guideline of the WHO. Levels of PM2.5 in maritime continental Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore) were lower than in mainland continental countries (Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos). PM levels are usually two times higher during dry than wet seasons. Organic carbon is a key chemical component, contributing 9–52% of PM mass. SO 4 2 − EN22044_IE1.gif , NO 3 − EN22044_IE2.gif , and NH 4 + EN22044_IE3.gif are major ions and NO 3 − EN22044_IE4.gif / SO 4 2 − EN22044_IE5.gif ratios were notably lower than in megacities in other regions, implying lower emissions from mobile relative to stationary sources. Source apportionment indicates biomass burning is one of the most important sources, particularly during the haze (dry) seasons, followed by road traffic emission in dense-traffic cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi. The secondary aerosols contribution to PM mass is usually lower than that in cities from other regions. We suggest future PM source apportionment studies in Southeast Asia to include both inorganic and organic tracers and apply both chemical mass balance and multivariate receptor models. Environmental context. Airborne particulate matter (PM) is a major public health risk in Southeast Asia. The annual average concentration of fine PM (PM2.5) in the region is significantly higher than the WHO air quality guidelines, and higher PM2.5 levels were recorded during dry seasons, primarily due to biomass burning. In this paper, we provide an overview of the seasonal variations in concentrations, chemical compositions, and sources of PM in Southeast Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After pursuing a long academic career as an anthropologist, this article provides my (Mitsuo Nakamura’s) personal academic reflection of how my anthropological approach differs from Geertzian paradigm, why anthropology and Islamic studies should be bridged, and what implications of the conversation between Islamic studies, anthropology, and other social sciences are. By answering the above questions, this reflective article sheds a new light on the relationship between anthropology and Islam and Muslim studies in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. The anthropological studies of Muslims in Southeast Asia that have been heavily influenced by Clifford Geertz through his work, The Religion of Java (1960), are engaged critically in this article. If Geertz and his students pay a more attention to Little Tradition (local culture and practices) and avoid Great Tradition (e.g. religious concepts and teachings), my anthropological approach argues for the importance of incorporating Great Tradition, which is Islamic Studies in the case of Muslim studies in Southeast Asia, in the study of anthropology and vice versa.

o explain ethnicity, scholars have come to an endless discussion providing a wide spectrum of ethnicity throughout the world. Various perspectives have been suggested to comprehend the notion of ethnicity. To this point, there are three most well-known perspectives to explain this term, namely primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism approach. Most scholars commonly apply one approach to dissect a case study related to ethnicity. Few have ombined two approaches, for each approach seems to contradict one another. However, this paper suggests that those three approaches can be simultaneously applied if critically used to discern certain case studies related to ethnicity in Southeast Asia. This argument will be elaborated into the analysis of ethnic identity for the minority and majority groups in Indonesia and Thailand.

In this article, Pierre Le Roux gives a very complete view on Jean Baffie’s career. This French transdisciplinary researcher is specialized on Southeast Asia, and more particularly on Thailand. P. Le Roux is taking us along Baffie’s life, from his studies in South of France (Montpellier) to is retirement from his position in CNRS. This biography shows a scholar passionate and really amazing. P. Le Roux presents also after this article a quite complete bibliography of J. Baffie.

Background This paper will report on the successful co-location of a community-based arts and sexual health project that aimed to engage, educate and create testing, treatment and care pathways at a co-located mobile sexual health clinic and community-controlled art gallery in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.Methods: Mixed methods were used to evaluate the project, including a visitor (n = 1181) and artist (n = 85) log book, a convenience audience survey (n = 231), and qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 13) with artists and audience to explore the effect of arts-based activities on access to sexual health information and services, and stigma and discrimination.Results: In total, 85 artists curated five separate exhibitions that were attended by 1181 people, of which 62% were aged ≤24 years. Gallery attendance improved awareness and participatory and interactive engagement with sexual health information through a medium described as interesting, fun, cool, and unique. The co-located clinic facilitated informal pathways to sexual health services, including HIV/AIDS testing, treatment, and care. Importantly, the project created shared understandings and empathy that challenged stereotypes and myths, reducing stigmatising beliefs and practices.Conclusions: Arts-based programs are transformative and can be effectively implemented, replicated and scaled up in low-resource settings to create awareness and initiate for HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care. Art-based health programs engages people in their communities, mobilises civil society, builds enabling environments to reduce stigma and discrimination and improves access to testing and prevention; essential features needed to end AIDS in Indonesia (and the Southeast Asia region) while improving the lives of those most vulnerable to infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Anthelmintic treatments are not widely adopted by smallholder farmers in Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) to treat bovid Toxocara vitulorum , resulting in high calf morbidity and mortality. Aims: Field trials were conducted to provide baseline efficacy data on an alternative, easy-to-use treatment by provision of fenbendazole-medicated molasses blocks (FMB) in situ. Methods: Participating villages were randomly allocated to the following treatments: (1) conventional orally administered pyrantel, (2) access to FMB, (3) access to non-medicated molasses blocks (MB), and (4) no blocks (control). Faecal eggs per gram (EPG) and weight were monitored in cattle (n = 171) and buffalo calves (n = 44) under field conditions for 48–56 days. Key results: In 2016, the MB treatment was associated with the fastest reduction in predicted average EPG at 2% per day, while FMB and pyrantel had an equivalent reduction of 1% per day, relative to the control (P = 0.062). Predicted average weight also differed significantly among treatments, with pyrantel and MB having the greatest average daily gain at 230 g and FMB at 200 g, which was higher than for control calves at 170 g (P = 0.002). In buffalo calves, treatment was not significantly associated with EPG or weight. The 2018 trial corroborated that FMB and MB treatments were associated with increased EPG reductions in cattle at 3% per day, relative to control calves (P = 0.007). Again, the MB treatment had the greatest predicted average daily gain at 200 g, compared with FMB calves at 160 g and control calves at 150 g (P = 0.005). Conclusions: The field trials provided baseline evidence that FMB and MB have potential applications in reducing environmental contamination of T. vitulorum eggs and may improve calf growth in low-input systems. However, further testing ex situ is required to control for variability in calf weight and T. vitulorum burdens, so as to optimise anthelmintic doses, assess the addition of urea to the block formula and assess product marketability. Implications: If successful, medicated nutrient blocks may be a simple method to reduce calf mortality and morbidity, enhancing the reproductive efficiency of large ruminant production in smallholder farms in developing countries. Uncontrolled toxocariasis contributes to the high rates of cattle and buffalo calf mortality in Laos, threatening efforts to establish food security and alleviate rural poverty. Designing parasite treatments appropriate for low-input traditional large ruminant systems may encourage sustainable adoption of parasite management and fenbendazole-medicated molasses blocks have shown great potential. In addition to assisting daily mustering, the therapeutic effects of the blocks against Toxocara vitulorum could improve agricultural productivity in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two specimens of Bourret’s Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus paradoxolophus, were recently collected from near Kalaw, western Shan State, Myanmar. They represent the first country record of the species as well as a considerable western range extension. A brief discussion of the taxonomic history of R. paradoxolophus is included along with a summary of its known ecology. The distribution is mapped and shows a correlation with areas of limestone karst.

The Philippine archipelago harbours a remarkable diversity of harvestmen, with respect to both taxonomy and complexity of biogeographic origins. Among the armoured harvestmen (suborder Laniatores), six families of distantly related groups occur in this archipelago. Here, we describe a new species of the family Tithaeidae, Tithaeus odysseus sp. nov., discovered during a collecting campaign on the island of Mindanao. The description of this species expands the known distribution of the family and demonstrates another exception to the zoogeographic boundary known as Huxley's Line which putatively separates the biota of the Philippines (excluding the Palawan island group) from the Sunda Shelf biota. Given the coincident distributions of Tithaeidae and the mite harvestman family Stylocellidae (Cyphophthalmi), a group renowned for its poor dispersal ability, we inferred phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of the Philippines lineages of both families by using a comprehensive molecular dating analysis of all Opiliones. The internal phylogeny of Tithaeidae mirrored the biogeography of Philippine Stylocellidae, showing a close affinity between the Philippine and Bornean species. Molecular dating showed contemporaneous colonisation of Mindanao by both families in the Cretaceous. We infer these patterns to reflect faunal connections between the southern Philippines and Borneo via the Zamboanga Peninsula. To render the genus Tithaeus monophyletic, we synonymise Metatithaeus with Tithaeus (new synonymy). We describe a new species of the family Tithaeidae, Tithaeus odysseus sp. nov., discovered during a collecting campaign on the island of Mindanao. The description of this species expands the known distribution of the family and demonstrates another exception to the faunal break called Huxley's Line (separating the Philippine biota from the Sunda Shelf). Molecular dating showed contemporaneous colonisation of Mindanao by the distantly related families Tithaeidae and Stylocellidae in the Cretaceous, likely via the Zamboanga Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]