The Hakubi Project

In a "world of regions", as the post-Cold War era has been called, multi-state geographical regions are thought to offer member nations important political, strategic, and economic benefits. The vast and diverse region of Southeast Asia, shaped by its own dynamic histories and encounters with the rest of Asia, Europe and the United States, is an archetypal example of such a region. Yet the term "Southeast Asia" is relatively young and, in the modern sense of the term, the region is younger still. What constitutes "Southeast Asia" and how, when and why did it come to be perceived as a region? What efforts have been made to develop a regional community in Southeast Asia, and how have these been studied? And what is missing from existing approaches to the study of regionalism in Southeast Asia? This seminar brings together a panel of three historians working on different aspects of the region and regionalism in Southeast Asia:

• Prof. Junko Koizumi—“ ‘Southeast Asia’ and Southeast Asian Studies in the US in the Early Cold War Period”

Southeast Asian Studies as part of Area Studies was created and developed mainly in the US after WWII. I would like to trace the process of delineating Southeast Asia as a distinct area of academic concern/interest in the US in the early Cold War period.

• Prof. Anthony Milner—“Studying ASEAN Regionalism”

Region building is now beginning to attract the degree of scholarly attention once focused on the constituting of nation states. In the case of the Asian region, however, the skill-set employed in this new endeavour gives too little attention to area expertise.

• Assoc. Prof. Simon Creak—“The Southeast Asian Games as Regional Community Building”

A multi-sport event founded in 1959, the Southeast Asian Peninsular/Southeast Asia Games represent a cultural form of regionalism missing from studies of regional community building. I will sketch the history of the Games and some of the ways I plan to study them during my Hakubi research project.