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daniellersalaz's review against another edition
4.0
My education focused on Japan and East Asia, so I didn’t know much about Southeast Asia before I read this book. Vatikiotis outlines the histories of the countries of Southeast Asia before turning to current trends and issues. The book is quite thorough and a good introduction to this important and storied world region.
smolgalaxybrain's review against another edition
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
3.0
My biggest gripe with the book is that although the author clearly has a lot of personal accounts of southeast asia, and is vastly knowledgeable of the history-altering events of the past few decades, his synthesis of the idea is very shallow and inherently framed by modern western ideals without any actual explanation as to why those ideals are good. Each idea has a lot of examples for sure, but the ideas themselves are rarely explained in depth (e.g. that rulers in southeast asia are just in general callous and selfish without any regard to the general populace, or the fact that it's asian values to just let "bygones be bygones" and forget the violence the nation has endured, or the fact that china's win-win "middle asia" philosophy is inherently a bad deal to the countries of SEA - all of which are smaller than China), the author preferring to explain with examples, which is not _immediately or necessarily_ a justification for ideas.
So of his western values, that he so values and champions, he doesn't question. He doesn't question the reason why democracy is good, why peace is the first and foremost the only path minorities should take in getting their grievances heard, why western intervention is essential and good, why China being the behemoth in Asia is bad. The most depth he explored is the various complex ways China and SEA asia interacts - even then he doesn't realize or try to see it through the lens of the people of SEA, and neither did he explain why the consequences he predicted of a close China-SEA ties is going to have a bad effect to SEA (why does mass temporal migration of Chinese workers for infrastructure construction inherently bad I wonder?). I am *not* against these values in principle, but as he is a journalist, I expected that he would at least elaborate instead of presenting it as a given.
Especially ironic then that the author is American, without realizing that most of the perils he tried to explain have roots in US interventions and European colonization throughout SEA. Crony and corrupt capitalism, authoritarian governments, demi-democracies, insurgent militaristic minorities, racism against fellow southeast asians, the principle of non-interference, the need to forget violence instead of forever memoralizing it like 9/11, islamic extremism. They are direct inheritance from colonial times and US cold war interference - which the author himself sometimes alluded to, although never explained in depth. Like he himself wrote in the book, southeast asia would probably have a very different history if only the first nationalists and post-colonials leaders weren't murdered or overthrown - most of which in southeast asia is _directly_ sponsored, goaded, and done by the CIA.
Perhaps if I had read this book in high school, when I still had respect and admiration over the "developed" nations of the west in my ignorance of my own country's history (Indonesia) and the far-reaching effects western intervention had on them, that I too would accept his western ideals without question. I know too much now to ever recommend this book for anything other than a simple introduction to the history of southeast asia, with a _lot_ of caveats.
So of his western values, that he so values and champions, he doesn't question. He doesn't question the reason why democracy is good, why peace is the first and foremost the only path minorities should take in getting their grievances heard, why western intervention is essential and good, why China being the behemoth in Asia is bad. The most depth he explored is the various complex ways China and SEA asia interacts - even then he doesn't realize or try to see it through the lens of the people of SEA, and neither did he explain why the consequences he predicted of a close China-SEA ties is going to have a bad effect to SEA (why does mass temporal migration of Chinese workers for infrastructure construction inherently bad I wonder?). I am *not* against these values in principle, but as he is a journalist, I expected that he would at least elaborate instead of presenting it as a given.
Especially ironic then that the author is American, without realizing that most of the perils he tried to explain have roots in US interventions and European colonization throughout SEA. Crony and corrupt capitalism, authoritarian governments, demi-democracies, insurgent militaristic minorities, racism against fellow southeast asians, the principle of non-interference, the need to forget violence instead of forever memoralizing it like 9/11, islamic extremism. They are direct inheritance from colonial times and US cold war interference - which the author himself sometimes alluded to, although never explained in depth. Like he himself wrote in the book, southeast asia would probably have a very different history if only the first nationalists and post-colonials leaders weren't murdered or overthrown - most of which in southeast asia is _directly_ sponsored, goaded, and done by the CIA.
Perhaps if I had read this book in high school, when I still had respect and admiration over the "developed" nations of the west in my ignorance of my own country's history (Indonesia) and the far-reaching effects western intervention had on them, that I too would accept his western ideals without question. I know too much now to ever recommend this book for anything other than a simple introduction to the history of southeast asia, with a _lot_ of caveats.
zaelle's review against another edition
3.0
A very accurate account of Southeast Asia, its social and political issues that prevent democracy from thriving and the increasing strength of influence from China. If you live in Southeast Asia, I suggest buying it online and reading it before it gets banned.
mich_26's review against another edition
4.0
A great book to read if you want to gain more knowledge on the modern history of South East Asian countries and how it impacts these countries and their people today. I was quite oblivious to the state affairs of South East Asian countries and the patterns of political history we share, until I read this book.
drdreuh's review against another edition
5.0
Vatikiotis's command of the history of - and current influences on - Southeast Asia is nothing short of astounding. 'Blood and Silk' is essential reading for anyone working in the region. And, Vatikiotis makes a strong case for why anyone NOT working in the region should pay attention too. My only nit is the unbalanced coverage of Cambodia, who's evolution does not seem entirely in line with other countries of the region that are covered in more depth (Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, etc.). Still, a fascinating and very readable read.
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