Southeast Asianists: Scholarly Profile

Like Agatha Christie’s works, Prof Goh is inherently curious about the process behind the occurrence of a phenomenon. From one masterful work to another, Prof Goh’s set a golden standard in the field on what constitutes analytical rigour. But Prof. Goh is no vessel of intellectual epiphany; analytical rigour is something she had to struggle with when writing. This Southeast Asianists episode discusses Prof Goh’s key works that have inspired me as a scholar and represent her evolution as a Southeast Asianist. She also discusses her thinking process, struggle, and what keeps her at night when thinking about Southeast Asia.

Evelyn Goh is the Shedden Professor of Strategic Policy Studies at the Australian National University, where she is also the Research Director at the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre. She has published widely on U.S.-China relations and diplomatic history, regional security order in East Asia, Southeast Asian strategies towards great powers, and environmental security. These include The Struggle for Order: Hegemony, Hierarchy and Transition in Post-Cold War East Asia (Oxford University Press, 2013); ‘Great Powers and Hierarchical Order in Southeast Asia: Analyzing Regional Security Strategies’, International Security 32:3 (Winter 2007/8):113-57; and Constructing the US Rapprochement with China, 1961-1974 (Cambridge University Press, 2004). Her most recent edited volume is Rising China’s Influence in Developing Asia (Oxford University Press, 2016), and her latest book (co-authored with Barry Buzan) is Re-thinking Sino-Japanese Alienation: History Problems and Historical Opportunities (Oxford University Press, 2020). She holds Masters (1999) and Doctoral (2001) degrees in International Relations and an undergraduate degree in Geography (1996), all from the University of Oxford. She also holds a Masters in Environment & Development from Cambridge (1997).

His work on the Vietnam War demonstrates how decision-makers are often trapped in bad theories, processing information and generating lessons from specific analogies that influence not only why the US must intervene but also how it should conduct itself in Vietnam. Turning the tables, this episode treats Prof Khong as a case study of a critical mind to elucidate how scholars develop their methodology and contribute to the field. He is a case that demonstrates the duality of scholarly life. He built his schema framework by tearing apart and building off of the arguments of those he revered––From Alexander George's Operational Codes to Ernest May's Lessons of the Past. His scholarly journey was both laboured, where he sought Prof Stanley Hofman at Harvard to train him, and, as he put it, "serendipitous," where the inspiration came his way as he walked in Harvard Square and encountered Deborah Larson's book that later became a core of his methodology. He became an influential scholar of IR in Southeast Asia by criticising strict concepts such as the balance of power and proposing newer concepts such as soft balancing. This criticism offered a pathway to a new generation of scholars of Hedging theory, such as Prof Cheng-Chwee Kuik and Prof Evelyn Goh, who were inspired by his criticism but also criticised his reference point and remained faithful to 'balancing.' He is influential in spite of the scholars' disagreement with his idea. His intellectual innovation stems from getting inspired. Prof Khong thus offers a snapshot of a dialectical approach to scholarly life: how scholars work on the cutting edge by finding gaps in the current literature and offering a path for a generation of scholars to poke holes in his argument and advance the field. Above all, Prof Khong is a teacher and a student of International Relations in Southeast Asia.

Khong Yuen Foong is the Li Ka Shing Professor in Political Science at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, at the National University of Singapore. He was formerly a Professor of International Relations, and a Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford University. His research interests include United States foreign policy, the international relations of the Asia Pacific, and cognitive approaches to international relations. Professor Khong’s book, Analogies at War: Korea, Munich, Dien Bien Phu, and the Vietnam Decisions of 1965 (Princeton, 1992; sixth printing 2006) was co-winner of the American Political Science Associations Political Psychology Book Award (1994). He also received the Erik Erikson Award for distinguished early career contributions to political psychology in 1996. A former Vice-President of the International Studies Association (U.S.A), 1999-2000, he has also served on the Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Foundation Committee on International Peace and Security. Professor Khong’s recent publications include ‘Power as Prestige in World Politics’, International Affairs (January 2019), ‘The American Tributary System’, The Chinese Journal of International Politics (2013) and ‘The United States Response to China’s Rise’, International Security (2013/2014). He is currently working on two long term projects, International Politics: The Rules of the Game and The American Tributary System.

In this episode, Sukma and I discussed his decision to embark on his PhD journey instead of pursuing a career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As fellow Sumatran, we exchanged ideas on what drives our passion.

Dr Rizal Sukma is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta. He has worked extensively on such issues as Southeast Asian security, ASEAN, Indonesia’s defence and foreign policy, military reform, Islam and politics, and domestic political changes in Indonesia. Dr Sukma has served as a member of the National Committee on Strategic Defence Review at the Ministry of Defence and the National Drafting Committee for the National Defence Bill (2000–2002) and the Armed Forces Bill (2002–2003). He was the first Indonesian to receive the Nakasone Award, in July 2005, and named one 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 by Foreign Policy magazine. Dr Sukma has published three books: Security Operations in Aceh: Goals, Consequences, and Lessons (Washington, DC: East-West Centre, 2004); Islam in Indonesia’s Foreign Policy (London: Routledge, 2003), and Indonesia and China: The Politics of A Troubled Relationship (London: Routledge, 1999).

The contextual translation is demanding because it requires an author to get a wholistic picture before making a decision. This often requires collaboration with other scholars, being in a location of the text, and interacting with the author and artists which Prof Hooker attempted to translate. When translating the Precious Gift, Prof Hooker undertook a multiyear project with Prof Barbara Andaya Watson, often involving posting and reading the text to each other, which produced key text to understand the literature of the Malay world. The process is exhausting, but the result is a more thorough understanding of the subtle beauty of the act of worship in the Southeast Asia Islamic world, the beauty behind the ugly, and an understanding of the intention behind the creation of art.

Virginia Matheson Hooker is Professor Emeritus and Fellow in the Dept of Political & Social Change, College of Asia and the Pacific, at The Australian National University. She retired as Professor of Indonesian and Malay in the Faculty of Asian Studies, the Australian National University in January 2007. Her research has focussed on Islam in Southeast Asia, literature and social change in Malaysia and Indonesia, and Indonesian political culture. Her most recent book, co-edited with Dr. Greg Fealy, is an award-winning sourcebook on contemporary Islam in Southeast Asia. She has organised international conferences on Islam in Southeast Asia (1993 and 2000), with the proceedings of the second being published in 2004 as Islamic Perspectives on the New Millennium (co-edited with Amin Saikal). She has contributed eight articles to the benchmark Encyclopaedia Islam (E.J. Brill, the Netherlands) as well as to Malaysian encyclopedias. She has been a member of the Humanities committees of the Australian Research Council and participated in a number of reviews of Asian Studies in Australia. She is known for her contribution to the development of Asian Studies, especially studies of Indonesia in Australia. Between 2003 and 2009, she coordinated a special Muslim Leaders Exchange program between Indonesia and Australia (funded by the Australia Indonesia Institute, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). She has been awarded major grants to provide graduate research training programmes for academic staff of Indonesian regional Islamic universities. She was a member of the Board of the Australia Indonesia Institute for eight years and a former member of the Foreign Affairs Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2000-2003). She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2003. In 2022, She was awarded the Order of Australia AM for ‘Significant Service to Tertiary Education, and to Asia-Pacific relations’ and Awarded the Australia Indonesia Institute (DFAT) Distinguished Service Award for her contribution to Indonesian Studies.