Tab 1

SOUTHEAST ASIA
● The term “Southeast Asia”1 is a neologism (newly coined word or expression.)
● Used occasionally in academic texts in the 1920s but only entered more general use
after the Allied Forces established the “South East Asia Command” (SEAC) in
December 1943 to coordinate their campaign against the Japanese Imperial Army in
the region north of Australia, south of China, and east of India.

Division of Southeast Asia

Insular or Maritime Region
● Brunei, Indonesia, parts of Malaysia, Philippines, and TimorLeste
● Malay-Polynesian cultural and linguistic influences have shaped this region.
● Except predominantly Catholic Philippines, Islam is the dominant religion of this part
of the region.
● Lowlands have historically been the economic, political, and cultural centers

Mainland or Continental Part

● Burma, Cambodia, Laos, the Malay Peninsula, and Vietnam
● Chinese-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Shan, Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese)
● and Mon-Khmer languages as well as the religious influence of Buddhism historically
shaped this region.
● Highlands have been home to most ethnic minorities
○ Until now, most highland areas are sparsely populated and economically less
developed than the central lowlands.
○ Highland areas have also been more resistant to state penetration than the
lowlands.

With the exception of Siam, the whole region came under Western colonial rule at some point
between 1511, when the Portuguese conquered the Sultanate of Malacca, and the 1920s.
 Direct Rule - Administrative structure of the colonial power replace existing political
structures.
Indirect Rule - Imperial powers co-opted traditional rulers and indigenous elites into a dual
administrative and government structure.

BRUNEI
Brunei Darussalam: Malay Islamic Monarchy and Rentier State
● The Sultanate Brunei Darussalam
● Negara Brunei Darussalam
● Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace

Population - 443, 593 Full Sovereignty - 1984 Form of Gov. - Monarchy

Current Consti. - 1959 Head of State - Sultan Head of Gov. - Sultan
Language - Malay System of Gov. - Parliamentary Cabinet Type - No-party Cabinet
Regime Type - Royal Autocracy Hassanal Bolkiah - 1967

Situated in the northwestern part of the island of Borneo

● Brunei is a microstate
● 65% of the total population has citizenship, most citizens are of Malayan descent
○ “permanent” (8%) and “temporary” residents (27%).
○ Most permanent residents are ethnic Chinese who were not granted
citizenship when Brunei declared its independence but received Bruneian
travel documents.
● Islam is the official state religion

Head of State
● The head of state is the Sultan (Yang Di-Pertuan, He, who is Lord) who represents
the country’s highest religious and political authority (Art. 3, Constitution of Brunei
Darussalam), making it the only absolute monarchy in Southeast Asia.
● The Sultan possesses absolute sovereignty in religious and political matters and
presents the highest judicial authority.
● The constitution assigns three key roles to the Sultan: head of religion, prime minister,
and commander-in-chief of the armed forces (Art. 3)
● The Sultan is assisted by five constitutionally mandated government bodies.
● The Sultan presides over the Council of Ministers (Art. 20–22) in his role as prime
minister and acts as his own minister of defence since 1986 and minister of finance
since 1998

● In 1967, Omar Ali Saifuddin III abdicated in favor of his son Hassanal Bolkiah,
dodging British pressure for the return to a constitutional regime.
 ● Any private business conducted by the ruling family is kept strictly separate from the
state budget and remains inscrutable for outsiders
● Instead of constituting a parliamentary regime, the Sultan remains Brunei’s center of
political gravity and possesses exclusive government authority. Hence, the absolute
sovereignty of the Sultanate itself is Brunei’s “Grundnorm” (basic norm): all positive
laws derive their validity from his person

Heir
● Usually, the sultan appoints a crown prince as his heir during his lifetime.
● In case the Sultan has not provided for an heir, an heir is designated by a Council
of Succession.
● If necessary, a Council of Regency appointed by the Sultan conducts all government
affairs until the designated heir comes of age.
● Both the Council of Succession and the Council of Regency are formed from
Brunei’s hereditary nobility.

Prime Minister
● He can appoint and dismiss other ministers at will, as the constitution does not detail
the number or portfolio of the different ministries.
● Brunei currently has 16 ministers, including the state-appointed Mufti and the
attorney general.
● To be eligible for a ministerial post, a candidate has to be a Bruneian citizen, but the
Sultan is free to make exceptions.
● Traditionally, several important cabinet posts are held by members of the royal
family.

Legislative Council
● The Sultan alone has the right of initiative.
● While the Council is to be consulted before bills are enacted into law and can debate
annual budget proposals in closed session, its decisions and recommendations are not
binding.
● The Sultan can enact laws and the national budget without the Council’s consent.
● The Sultan also has unlimited power to issue emergency decrees, which are
immediately legally binding.
● Even in its internal affairs, the Legislative Council is not an independent body since
the Sultan determines its size, term of office, and mode of creation by proclamation.
● The Sultan can suspend or dismiss any councilor at any time (Art. 31).

Composition
● The Legislative Council consisted of 33 members, 16 of which were determined
through indirect elections. The remaining members were either appointed directly by
the Sultan or became members ex officio as heads of other government bodies.
 ● After the recent constitutional reforms, the Legislative Council can have no more
than 51 members.
○ The prime minister, the minister for foreign affairs, and the Crown Prince is
among the six ex officio members.
● Up to 30 members can be appointed by the Sultan and no more than 15 members can
be determined in elections.
● The first such election since 1965 was held in 2011. Village elders and the heads of
the country’s four districts formed an electoral college that elected nine members for
the current Council.
● Altogether, the Council currently has 35 members, all of whom have to be Bruneian
citizens and at least 20 years of age

The Privy Council (Majlis Mesyuarat Di-Raja, Art. 5–8)

Governmental Affairs - Advises the Sultan on constitutional amendments, on matters of
honorary titles and ceremonial offices, as well as on questions regarding succession and
regency.
● While the Council has no formal political authority, it is an important instrument for
the Sultan to integrate the traditional nobility into the political system and foster
individual loyalty among nobles

The Religious Council (Majlis Ugama Islam, Art. 3)

Religious Affairs - Advises the Sultan in matters relating to Islam and assists in drafting
religious laws

Adat Istiadat Council (Majlis Mesyuarat Adat Istiadat, Art. 3a)

Cultural Affairs - Assists the Sultan in matters of Malay traditional rights and customs.

Constitution
First drafted in 1959, provides no separation of powers: The Sultan’s principal authority is
not diminished by parliament and he remains head of judiciary.
● Brunei’s constitutional order rests on two documents:
○ the Constitution of 1959 (with major revisions enacted in 2004 and 2006)
○ Succession and Regency Proclamation of 1959
■ Regulated the succession to the throne, legal age requirements, and
regency periods
● Even though Brunei has had a written constitution since 1959, its pseudo-
constitutionalism merely formalizes the Sultan’s absolute sovereignty.
● The document was drawn up under pressure from the British and the PRB, but
without the participation of social groups.
Composition
● The constitutional text consists of a preamble and eleven sections with a total of 87
articles.
● The text considers the Sultan’s power absolute and not limited or bound by basic or
human rights.
● A series of constitutional reforms between 2004 and 2006 introduced the free exercise
of religious beliefs as the only basic right (Art. 3, I).
● Beyond that, constitutional reforms in the mid-2000s confirmed the Sultan’s
prerogative to wield all executive and legislative powers and amended the section
concerning the Legislative Council (Majlis Mesyuarat Negara)
● Under the revised 2004 Constitution, the Sultan is now free to adopt or reject any
amendment to the constitution, and the Legislative Council is further proscribed from
discussing any matters that might reduce the rights and powers of the Sultan and his
family or matters relating to the national doctrine of the Malay Islamic Monarchy.
● While already suspended under emergency rule since 1962, the constitutional review
of laws and royal decrees is now explicitly banned (Art. 84c).
● The constitution now extends complete legal immunity to the Sultan and any
government official acting on behalf or under the authority of the Sultan (Art. 84b).
○ The amendments also clarified that Brunei’s official religion is Islam
according to the interpretation of the Shafi’i school, one of the four schools of
legal thought in Sunni Islam.
○ Changes to the appendix constitutions now also clarify that a number of
influential government offices can only be held by Malay Muslims,
including that of the Auditor General, the Chairman of the Public Service
Commission, and cabinet ministers (Art. 3, V)

● The first Bruneian constitution, proclaimed that same year at the insistence of the
British government, instituted a consultative assembly with a handful of indirectly
elected members, called the Legislative Council.
○ The PRB managed to win all 16 elected seats of the council’s 33 total seats in
the first popular vote in August 1962. When the Sultan proved unwilling to
include the PRB in the decision-making process, the national movement
radicalized
○ In December 1962, PRB cadres and the pro-Indonesian National Army of
North Kalimantan (Tentara Nasional Kalimantan Utara, TNKU) started an
uprising that was easily crushed by British troops but provided the Sultan
with the opportunity to establish emergency rule, dissolve the legislative
council, and ban all political parties.

Rentier State
● Fueled by oil revenues, Brunei transformed from a mainly agrarian-based to a “rentier
state” economy.
 ● With abundant natural resources and a small population, Brunei Darussalam has one
of the highest levels of GDP per capita in Southeast Asia.
● Brunei is the fourth largest producer of liquid gas worldwide; oil and gas deposits
are exploited in a joint venture between the state, multinational corporations, and a
new Chinese-Malay business elite largely organized around the Brunei Shell
Petroleum conglomerate
● The revenue is administered by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), Brunei’s
sovereign petroleum fund under the auspices of the ministry of finance.

PRB
Brunei People’s Party (Partai Rakyat Brunei, PRB)

Stability Of The Political Regime

1. The legitimation of the absolute monarchy through the concept of Melayu Islam
Beraja or the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB)
2. Soft repression to prevent public criticism and opposition
3. The Sultanate secures its national sovereignty and independence through
membership in the:
a. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
b. the United Nations (UN)
c. Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
d. Bilateral defense and security cooperation with the United Kingdom and
Singapore.
4. Resource abundance and oil revenues provide the means to co-opt Malay elites and
middle classes in a rentier-based “authoritarian bargain”, in which citizens relinquish
political rights for economic security and exchange political loyalty for economic
benefits and social welfare.

Shellfare
● The government forgo income tax for individual citizens and precludes demands for
greater political participation (“taxation effect”).
● The so-called spending effect also contributes to the depolitization of the public.
● The government uses oil and gas revenues to finance a generous welfare system, also
known as “shellfare” , that includes subsidies for fuel, housing, and staple foods as
well as free education, university stipends for citizens to study abroad, and access to
affordable quality health care.
○ This fosters the development of patron–client relationships and rent-
seeking among the Malay middle class and mostly Chinese-speaking
entrepreneurs and ensures their loyalty to the continued existence of the ruling
monarchy
 ● Material benefits are awarded based on socioeconomic status groups, which has
precluded the creation of modern political or social associations (“modernization
effect”).
● Oil and gas revenues have been used to finance a very sizeable security sector that
provides regime security (“repression effect”).
○ In the region, Brunei’s per capita military spending is only surpassed by
Singapore, and the Global Militarization Index puts the Sultanate at rank 14
among the 150 countries surveyed by the Bonn Center for International
Conversion

System of Government
According to the constitution, Brunei is a hereditary constitutional monarchy but in
practice, it is considered as an absolute monarchy: The position of the monarch is not
functionally separate from the legislature and the government, and an elected parliament does
not share power with the Sultan

Legal and Judicial System

Brunei’s legal system mixes British common law and the Shafi’i Islamic school, the latter
of which is the major source of law in the country

2 Branch of Courts
1. Islamic courts - deal with matters like matrimonial or inheritance law and Sharia-
regulated criminal cases
2. Secular courts - modeled after the British system.

The state courts are organized in three tiers: lower magistrate courts, intermediate courts,
and the Supreme Court as the court of last resort and appellate court of the country.
● These courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all matters under Islamic law including
criminal proceedings, if Sharia law applies.
● All national citizens and permanent residents are subject to these courts, irrespective
of their individual religious faith.
● In the case of jurisdictional conflict between state and religious courts, decisions of
the Sharia courts take precedent over their secular counterparts

Constitutional Review
● Brunei has no constitutional court as judicial review is irreconcilable with the Sultan’s
position as the sole source and center of executive, legislative, and juridical power.
● The legal immunity granted to the Sultan and those who act on his behalf or under his
authority rules out any legal redress in administrative disputes. Government officials
are only subject to judicial procedure in their private and never in their official
capacity
Political Parties and Elections
One of only five states in the world that does not hold any kind of representative national
elections for the legislature.
● Although the constitution, as noted, provides for a limited number of elected
legislative councilors, no popular election has taken place since 1962.
● Political parties were legalized again in 1985 but need authorization from the
Ministry of Interior and are obliged to submit yearly reports on their activities to
renew their registration.
● Societies Order of 2005 - political parties are regulated under this as there is no
formal party law.
● Only full citizens are allowed to be members of a political party, and members of the
public service or the armed forces are prohibited from joining parties altogether.
○ This precludes a large number of citizens from becoming active in party
politics and remains the most important obstacle for the development of a
genuine party system

Pan-Bornean PRB
● First political party, founded in 1956, making Brunei a latecomer in terms of political
party development in the region.
● Only political party to develop a party ideology and preside over an organized
membership base.
● Only party ever to have participated in elections with its own chosen candidates, but it
was quickly banned after the election following its participation in the 1962 antiroyal
uprising

Since 1962, political parties are not allowed to nominate their own candidates in national or
local elections.
● Members for the Legislative Council, village elders, and district heads are elected as
individuals.

National Development Party (PP)

● Only party that has partially overcome these difficulties and avoided complete
collapse.
● The National Democratic Party of Brunei (BNDP), founded in 1985, quickly lost
its permit after several members publicly criticized the government.
● Royalist parties like the National Solidarity Party of Brunei (PPKB) and the
Brunei People’s Awareness Party (PAKAR) remained largely inactive and were
deleted from the registry of associations in 2005 and 2008.
● With the major exception of the PRB, all Bruneian parties to date contain only several
dozen to a few hundred individuals, and none serve any governmental or electoral
function.
State Administration
The territory of Brunei is administratively divided into:
● districts
● Municipalities (daerah)
● subdistricts (mukim)
● villages (kampong) or long house communities
which is the traditional form of settlement of several of Brunei’s indigenous groups.

There are no formal regulations regarding local government bodies.

● The district governments and municipalities are subordinate to the Ministry of Home
Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office.
● Village elders and district heads are elected by the local population after the
candidates—often former bureaucrats or military officers—are cleared by the
government.

As government officials, they receive a salary and are bound by government instructions.
● Their official role is mostly limited to mediating local conflict and acting as an
intermediary between the local population and the state administration.
● Because of the relatively homogenous population, there is little vertical conflict
among different ethnic groups.
○ Lingering tensions with Malaysia about contested border territories were
resolved peacefully in 2009.

Civil–Military Relations and the Security Sector

1000 police officers per 100,000 people, Brunei is one of the best-policed nations in Asia
● The impressive oil and gas revenues allow the government to provide for a large
security apparatus.
● The government spent an average of around 15% of its total budget for security and
military defense during the last decade. In the region, it was outspent only by
Singapore.
● Roughly 80% of Brunei’s defense and security spending goes to the Armed Forces
and the Gurkha Reserve Unit.

Brunei’s security sector consists of three main services:

1. The Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF)
a. All-voluntary force that only accepts citizens with a Malay ethnic background
into its ranks.
b. Embodiment of the Bruneian nation and symbolize the country’s sovereignty.
c. The RBAF is under the authority of the Ministry of Defense, but the Sultan
remains commander-in-chief.
2. The Gurkha Reserve Unit (GRU)
 [Link] force, is under the authority of the Sultan in his role as minister
of defence
b. It was recruited in 1974 from former soldiers of British Gurkha Regiments,
British officers, and retired members of the Singaporean Police.
c. Key tasks are protecting the Seria oil fields, public facilities, and government
offices.
d. Serves as an organizational counterweight to the military and provides the
Sultan’s personal security detail
3. The Royal Brunei Police (RBP), which also includes paramilitary units.
a. The Royal Bruneian Police is controlled by the Sultan in his role as prime
minister and commands about 4400 men, 1700 members of them with
paramilitary training and equipment.
b. Key priorities for the police force in Brunei include maintaining public order,
crime prevention, but also border policing, counterterrorism, and monitoring
of opposition activities.

Internal Security Act (ISA)

The ISA allows the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police to arrest anybody suspected of
having
acted or being likely to act in a way that would threaten security without evidence or a
warrant, hold suspects incommunicado for investigation, and detain them indefinitely, though
in recent decades it has been rarely used.

Civil Society and Media System

The Societies Order of 2005

Restricts freedom of association and organized political activities by requiring organizations
of more than ten people to register with the government, and the government enjoys full
discretion to register or dissolve such groups.
● Only registered parties and associations may engage in organized political activity,
and political speeches are tightly regulated.
● Unionism is largely moribund after the PRB-dominated Brunei United Labor Front
was banned in 1963

Media
● Brunei’s media also remain tightly constrained.
● Nationwide access to TV and radio and the internet is widely accessible, but
authorities monitor online material, and all domestic newspapers, radio stations, and
television channels are linked to the government.
● Newspapers and magazines, including foreign editions, need a permit that is issued
and renewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs on an annual basis.
● Self-censorship is common among journalists.
 ● Restrictions on international and local researchers alike have rendered systematic
attempts to gather survey data difficult, and the empirical base for analyses and
conclusions is thereby narrow

Malay Islamic Monarchy

First mentioned by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in his independence proclamation on January 1,
1984; and was officially proclaimed on the Sultan’s 44th birthday in 1990.

As a means of “self legitimization” for the monarchy, it rests on three key elements:
1. The monarchy as custodian of Malay language, culture, and tradition.
2. The monarchy as custodian of Islam and Islamic law.
3. The Malay Sultanate was a form of absolute monarchy ordained by god, cutting
across socio economic cleavages, albeit not across ethnic or religious lines.

The MIB, constitutes an attempt to legitimate the absolute monarchy by the sanctity of
(invented) tradition and stands in stark contrast to the Sultan’s subordination to British
authority before the 1960s.
● The MIB concept has proclaimed the ideal of a pious and benevolent dictator working
for the social and economic well-being of his subjects.

Outlook
Legitimation, co-optation, and repression as the three pillars of authoritarian rule.

CAMBODIA

Historical Background
In the past 25 years, the Kingdom of Cambodia has experienced a threefold transformation:
1. from civil war to postwar reconstruction
2. from a socialist one-party state to a multiparty electoral system
3. from a centrally planned economy to a market economy

Population - 16,204,486 Full Sovereignty - 1953 Form of Gov. - Monarchy

Current Consti. - 1993 Head of State - King Head of Gov. - Prime Minister
Language - Khmer System of Gov. - Cabinet Sys. Cabinet Type - Single-party
Cabinet
Regime Type - Autocracy Hassanal Bolkiah - King Hun Sen (since 1985)
Norodom Sihamoni (since
2004)

Khmer Empire of Angkor, the historical predecessor of what is today the Kingdom of
Cambodia, can be traced back to the ninth century CE.
Indochina Union, comprising Cambodia and the three constituent regions of Vietnam:
Tonkin, Annam, and Cochin-China.

Khmer Rouge
● Communist opposition
● The fall of Phnom Penh in April 1975 was followed by a 4-year reign of Khmer
Rouge terror under the leadership of Pol Pot, during which approximately one-fifth
of the population was murdered or died as a result of misrule.
● When the xenophobic regime finally turned against Vietnam, Vietnamese troops
invaded eastern Cambodia and ousted the Khmer Rouge in December 1978

Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), a three-party coalition of the

Khmer Rouge, the royalist FUNCINPEC , and the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front
(former pro-Lon Nol forces) formally led by Norodom Sihanouk.

United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) - peace talks in Paris in

1991. Under the guidance of the UN Security Council’s Permanent Five and supported by the
governments of Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and other concerned states