4.11—Southeast Asia Today

1. 4.11—Southeast Asia Today

2. Vocabulary • Secular—non religious (as in, not having to do with religion)

3. Religion in Southeast Asia • Southeast Asia has a very diverse mix of religions. Almost all of them came from outside Southeast Asia, and diffused into the region over many centuries.

4. Religion in Southeast Asia

5. Religion in Southeast Asia • The two largest religions in the region are Buddhism and Islam. We will learn more about Islam toward the end of the 9 weeks. • We will learn more about Buddhism and its beginnings in India in a couple weeks, but a special kind of Buddhism—Theravada Buddhism—is unique to Southeast Asia. • Video!

6. Religion in Southeast Asia • Many of these countries have secular governments, meaning that religion doesn’t play a role in deciding the laws and running the country (think of the United States). • Other countries, like Malaysia, have religious law—their laws are based upon religion. This can cause some problems in these countries if not everyone is of the same religion.

7. Vocabulary • Military junta—a government ruled by a committee of military leaders • Insurgency—a rebellion • Separatist group—a group of people who want to establish a separate, independent state

8. Government and Politics • Types of government are just as diverse in Southeast Asia as religions. There are monarchies, authoritarian governments (dictatorships) and democracies. • One country—Myanmar—is ruled by a military junta, or a committee of military leaders. • Many of these countries—regardless of their type of government—suffer from what we call “political instability”, where the government frequently changes. Insurgencies are common, especially amongst separatist groups.

9. Government and Politics

10. Government and Politics • Why might political instability be a problem for a country? • Why might people of different religions want to separate from a country and form their own? • Why might people of different ethnic groups want to separate from a country and form their own? • Is it possible for people of different ethnic groups an religions to live together? If so, how?

11. Vocabulary • ASEAN—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a trade group working to promote economic growth and social progress

12. Economies and the Environment • With two exceptions—Singapore and Brunei—all the countries of Southeast Asia are considered developing. However, some are closer to being developed, while others are still very poor and have little advanced technology:

13. Economies and the Environment (for comparison, Americans use 8.9)

14. Economies and the Environment • We call Southeast Asia’s mix of developing and developed countries uneven development. Some countries suffer from uneven development even within themselves—usually between urban and rural areas. This can be another reason for insurgencies to form. • Some of the more developing countries, or developing areas of them, rely on the collection and exportation of natural resources to make their money. In Indonesia, this has led to massive deforestation of the country’s rain forests, destroying the habitats of hundreds of thousands of different species of animals:

15. Economies and the Environment

16. Economies and the Environment

17. Economies and the Environment • Most of the countries of Southeast Asia have formed an organization called ASEAN, however, to help combat the problems of insurgency, uneven development and environmental damage. • While uneven development is a problem, it shows that some countries in the region have been able to improve the lives of its people over the past several decades.

18. Assignment—“Ethnic and Religious Groups: Better off Together or Alone”? Will be due on Monday, February 3rd There are no “right” or “wrong” answers, so long as your argument makes sense! The rest of the hour is yours to work on this.