ABSTRACT
In the postwar period, important watersheds have shaped conflicts that have arisen with regard to the establishment, consolidation and replacement of various economic and political regimes within Southeast Asia. In each case, these watersheds have entailed significant shifts in US foreign policy and economic leadership, thus shaping the complexion and outcomes of these conflicts. These watersheds include the emergence of the Cold War, the end of the Cold War and the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis. With each watershed, there has been a change in the USA’s tolerance of and support for regimes that depart from economic and political liberalism. In particular, both the end of the Cold War and the Asian crisis led to new pressures for liberal economic and/or political reform. Presently, however, it is the War on Terror that represents a new potential watershed. Will it lead to an accentuation, reversal or uneven prosecution of these pressures?
