The Asia Pacific region is not as peaceful as the name implies. Although the risks of interstate conflicts. Ethnic, political and religious tensions, often marked by separatist rebellion, terrorism or ethnic cleansing, periodically dominate news from Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines, Sri Lanka, and a number of regions in Indonesia and the Pacific. Like terrorism and nuclear proliferation, violent internal conflicts are increasingly being seen as a global security issue.

In this volume, prominent Asian and Western academics and conflict specialists focus on the ofte ncomplex histories, causes, and trajectories of violent internal conflicts and evaluate the critical options policy makers have for coping with them. Drawn from universities, research centres and non governmental organisations, the writers offer diverse perspectives on one of the pressing issues of the twenty-first century.

Contributors:

Asvi Warman Adam, LIPI, Jakarta

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, LIPI, Jakarta

Helene Bouvier, CNRS, Paris

Kevin Clements, University of Queensland, Brisbane

Freek Colombijn, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

Robert Cribb, Australian National University, Canberra

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, LIPI, Jakarta

Kees van Dijk, KITLV, Leiden

Marc Gaborieau, CNRS, Paris

Johan Galtung, TRANSCEND, Versonnex

Eva-Lotta E. Hedman, Refugee Research Centre, Oxford University

Sidney Jones, International Crisis Group, Jakarta

Thung Ju Lan, LIPI, Jakarta

Timo Kivimaki, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen

Gerry van Klinken, KITLV, Leiden

Samuel Lee, APCEIU-UNESCO, Seoul

Nono Anwar Makarim, Aksara Foundation, Jakarta

Ichsan Malik, University of Indonesia, Jakarta

R. J. May, Australian National University, Canberra

Jehan Perera, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Colombo

Glenn Smith, LASEMA, Paris

Frances Stewart, Oxford University

Leo Suryadinata, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, LIPI, Jakarta

Santiago Villaveces-Izquierdo, ICITAP, Jakarta

Dewi Fortuna Anwar is research professor and deputy chairman for social sciences and humanities at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta.

Helene Bouvier is researcher at the Laboratoire Asie du Sud-Est et Monde Austronesien, French National Centre For Scientific Research, Paris.

Glenn Smith is researcher at the Laboratoire Asie du Sud-Est et Monde Austronesien, Paris.

Roger Tol is director of KITLV-Jakarta, the representative office in Indonesia of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies.