ABSTRACT
South-east Asia and the Pacific represent a mix of pre-colonial polities ranging from clan and village chieftaincies to sultanates and political mandalas which in turn segued into empires. The region of Southeast Asia and the Pacific has been highly prone to separatist claims, in large part reflecting post-colonial states replicating, or worse, colonialism’s oppression and marginalization. Added to the government making Buddhism the state religion, when many minorities were not Buddhist, led to riots, especially in Kachin State. Bougainville was, a fairly conventional case of a distinct ethnic group being incorporated into the larger post-colonial state for access by the state to resources. Mindanao Muslims continue to resist central government authority under various guises, including recently as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Relatively unrestrained violence was practiced both by more radical of the Patani separatist movements, as well as the security forces.
