ABSTRACT
The abortive coup d'état which occurred in Jakarta in September 1965 was to have a profound effect on the pattern of political relations in Southeast Asia, accelerating a momentum of change which was already under way. In Southeast Asia, an additional impetus was given to the process of multipolarization by Britain's decision to withdraw its armed forces 'East of Suez' before the middle of the 1970s. The departure of Sukarno symbolized the end of Southeast Asia's traumatic post-independence era and marked the beginning of a period when countries were pursuing the practical goals of national development. The change in US global policy and the subsequent Sino-US rapprochement had a particularly profound impact upon the nations of Northeast Asia. But it was North and South Korea for which the future held the greatest uncertainty. Their nationhood had been built on the premise of the cold war, and the multipolarization of Asia was bound to undermine the foundations of their political structure.
