China and the US: Who Will Better Understand Southeast Asia?
The United States and China are taking divergent paths in cultivating regional expertise on Southeast Asia, with the US dismantling its university-based area studies programs while China aggressively scales state-backed academic research. The article argues that while China's top-down approach increases capacity, the US's loss of independent, long-term academic inquiry threatens its ability to understand the region's complex, non-policy-driven nuances.
Why it matters
The decline of US academic expertise on Southeast Asia relative to China's state-sponsored expansion could significantly impact the long-term diplomatic and strategic effectiveness of both powers in a critical geopolitical region.
HOME ARTICLES China and the US: Who Will Better Understand Southeast Asia?
The article provides a balanced critique of both nations: it highlights the structural fragility of the US academic model while simultaneously questioning the intellectual independence and top-down constraints of the Chinese model.
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