event

The Challenge of Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia

Wed. June 18th, 2014
Washington, DC

In Southeast Asia, political dynamics appear to be outrunning political institutional frameworks. Although Thailand is the obvious case, political systems in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, are also under strain.

Muthiah Alagappa explored the underlying foundations of political legitimacy in Southeast Asia, why those foundations appear to be eroding, and what can be done to establish more legitimate and durable forms of government in the decades ahead.

Muthiah Alagappa

Muthiah Alagappa is a nonresident senior associate in Carnegie’s Asia Program. His research focuses primarily on Asian security, the political legitimacy of governments, civil society and political change, and the political role of the military in Asia.

Vikram Nehru

Vikram Nehru is a senior associate in Carnegie’s Asia Program. An expert on development economics, growth, poverty reduction, debt sustainability, governance, and the performance and prospects of East Asia, his research focuses on the economic, political, and strategic issues confronting Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.

Political ReformDemocracyEconomySecuritySoutheast Asia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Muthiah Alagappa

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Asia Program

Alagappa, formerly a nonresident senior fellow in the Asia Program, was the first holder of the Tun Hussein Onn Chair in international studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His research focuses primarily on Asian security, the political legitimacy of governments, civil society and political change, and the political role of the military in Asia.

Vikram Nehru

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Asia Program

Nehru was a nonresident senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program. An expert on development economics, growth, poverty reduction, debt sustainability, governance, and the performance and prospects of East Asia, his research focuses on the economic, political, and strategic issues confronting Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.