SAIS SOUTHEAST ASIA STUDIES SPRING 2015

SAIS Graduates: Class of 2014

Honoring Frederick Z. Brown

AY 2014-15 New Students

The Case for Regional Studies

Faculty Publications

Internships in Southeast Asia

AY 2014-15 Selected Activities

Alumni and Friends Campaign

for Southeast Asia Studies

THIS ISSUE

Congratulations to the SAIS Class of 2014!

Dear Alumni, Friends, and Colleagues,

We are delighted to send you a few high-lights of the past year.

Particularly noteworthy among activities are recently released faculty publications and a spirited and heartwarming alumni-organized celebration in Vietnam and Thai-land. Incomplete Democracies in the Asia-Pacific: Evidence from Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand (Karl D. Jackson, Giovanna Maria Dora Dore, Jae H. Ku, eds., Palgrave Macmillan) and Myanmar: The Dynamics of an Evolving Polity (David I. Steinberg, ed., Lynne Rienner Publishers) were released for publi-cation in late 2014.

In honor of Professor Frederick Z. Brown and his sustained contribution to 20 years of U.S.-Vietnam normalization, SAIS alumni organized a memorable event of workshops and receptions, both in Hanoi and Bangkok.

With spring-time cheer, we look forward to another year of teaching and scholarly achievements.

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We proudly announce the SAIS Southeast Asia Studies

Class of 2014

With best wishes,

Karl Jackson Bill Wise

Beacon Hotel Rooftop, Washington, D.C., May 2014.

We are delighted to recognize the academic achievements of our graduates. Among those whose records merit special mention are Daniel Greenland, winner of the 2014 Wol-fowitz Fellowship Prize for the highest GPA among SAIS Southeast Asia studies graduates, and Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, who earned an M.A. with high merit based on an exceptional performance on the capstone oral exam.

SAIS, 5.21.14 (L to R): William Wise, Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, and Karl Jackson.

Kittithep Devahastin Na Ayuthai, M.A., Prem Fellow Melissa Carlson, M.A.

Gregory Edgreen, M.I.P.P. Jacqueline Foelster, M.A.

Anne Gillman, M.A. (SGA President, AY 2013-14) Daniel Greenland, M.A.

Amy Killian, M.A. Wanlapa Komkai, M.A., Prem Fellow

Mark Lee Kian Meng, M.I.P.P. Polina Lenkova, M.A.

Pongkwan Sawasdipakdi, M.A. Joshua Simonidis, M.A.

Aichida Ul-Aflaha, M.A., Freeport McMoran Fellow Heru Yuda, M.A., Freeport McMoran Fellow

and

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, Ph.D.

ALUMNI AND DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY OF VIETNAM WORKSHOP IN HONOR OF FREDERICK Z. BROWN

An excerpt of a December 23, 2014 letter from Dean Vali Nasr to Professor Frederick Z. Brown

Dear Fred: It is appropriate that SAIS alumni should gather in

Hanoi to observe the 20th anniversary of the establishment of dip-lomatic relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and especially significant that you are present on this occasion. Your singular contributions to the development of U.S.-Vietnam relations are well known in both countries. As a Foreign Service Officer, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member, an author and analyst, and a highly re-garded professor of Southeast Asia Studies at SAIS, you have played an important role in bringing the U.S. and Vietnam closer together. Your guidance and assistance to a generation of Vietnam-ese students at SAIS demonstrated not only your dedication to our educational mission, but also your personal commitment to the well-being and success of each individual. The bonds you and our SAIS alumni have helped to create serve our two countries well. —Vali Nasr

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Hanoi, Vietnam 1.9.15: With great appreciation to the Diplomatic Acad-emy of Vietnam and SAIS alumni Markus Taussig (’99), Pham Van Dzung (‘00), and Tuyen Nguyen (’02) who organized a gathering of SAIS alumni and Vietnamese government officials for a workshop com-memorating 20 years since the U.S. and Vietnam formally normalized diplomatic relations. Participants included the guest of honor Professor Fred Brown, Ambassador Ted Osius (’89), Hans Vriens (’85), SAIS Professor William Wise, SAIS Professor Jim Riedel, and former SAIS professor Bridget Welsh. Receptions followed in Bangkok with addition-al SAIS alumni, including Frances Brown (’98).

SAIS Washing-ton, D.C. 12.3.14

(L to R): Tran Thi Quynh Hoa

Fellow Lena Le, and Professor

Fred Brown following Ms.

Le’s talk on ASEAN’s

centrality in Asia Pacific security

architecture after the cold war.

WELCOME TO THE NEW STUDENTS!

In fall 2014, we were delighted to welcome 14 students to the M.A., M.I.P.P., and Ph.D. degree programs in Southeast Asia Studies, including the first recipients of the Thayer fellowships:

M.A candidates: Joshua Nathaniel Ahyong (Philip W. Thayer

Fellow) Noelan Paolo Arbis (Philip W. Thayer Fellow) Dat Cao

Jingyang Chen Zhi Gan Andrew Manugian Jessica

Pham (Thomas R. Pickering Fellow) and Tristan Thibodeaux.

M.I.P.P. candidates: Phillip Kerber Aye Mya Mya Khaing

(Philip W. Thayer Fellow) Pengiran Husaini Pengiran Alauddin

Jacob Thomases and Stephanie Jane Wilson.

Ph.D. candidate: Yun Sun.

*Philip W. Thayer fellowships are available for citizens of the Philippines, Myan-mar, and Vietnam through the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation.

Borobodur, January 2015 (L to R): SAIS Southeast Asia students Joshua Ahyong, Noelan Arbis, Gian Gozum, and Martin House in Indonesia for language studies in Bahasa Indo-nesia during inter-session break.

Bangkok, Thailand 1.11.15 (Above: L to R): Kathleen Norman (’92), W. Patrick Murphy (’91), Fred Brown, Thitinan Pongsudhirak (’92), and Phil Robertson (‘97); (Right: L to R): Fred Brown and Bui The Giang (‘94).

THE CASE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES

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Myanmar: The Dynamics of an Evolving Polity (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014). Professor David I. Steinberg and co-authors who include SAIS Ph.D. Candidate Yun Sun address how Myanmar is un-dergoing a socio-political and eco-nomic transformation that is as important as it is fragile. The sin-cerity of the reform process is evi-dent, but its implementation and the capacities of state institutions, civil society, and the private sector are highly limited. The stampeded by foreigners to help change policies, however well intentioned, is likely to be undermined by the lack of sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of that complex society.

SUMMER 2014 INTERNSHIPS IN THE REGION!

Incomplete Democracies in the Asia-Pacific (Palgrave Macmillan 2014). Professor Karl D. Jack-son, Dr. Giovanna Maria Dora Dore, Dr. Prinat Apirat, Dr. Jae H. Ku, and Mr. Marshall Kirby analyze the state of democracy in Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand using the findings from two SAIS surveys, in 2000 and 2011, that interviewed 1,200 and 4,000 respondents. The book shows how mass attitudes and behaviors enable continued elite control, and that the chronic prob-lem of these electoral democracies has been the lack of mobilized public demand for good govern-ance.

Gian Michael Gozum Alin Horj

Martin House Hanna Jung

Polina Lenkova Bartholomew Thanhauser

John Ziegler

Supanat Chan-um Leah Cobelli

Kevin Cottrell Conor Cronin

Yiyi Fan Elizabeth Gaglia Charles Gilbert

The Permanent Mission of Thailand to ASEAN (Jakarta) U.S. Department of State (Embassy Hanoi) APCO Worldwide (Bangkok) U.S. Department of State (Embassy Manila) China Power Investment Yunnan International Co. (Yangon) Social Impact (Jakarta) Solidiance Asia Pacific (Jakarta)

American Chamber of Commerce (Manila) United Nations (Bangkok) Vriens & Partners (Hanoi) Cambodia Initiative, University of Puthisastra (Phnom Penh) Myanmar Center for Responsible Business (Yangon) Vriens & Partners (Jakarta) The Asia Foundation (Manila)

REGIONAL STUDIES BY FACULTY

he heart of any first-rate graduate program is the new knowledge that it creates, the publishable papers of M.A.

students, the Ph.D. dissertations, and the books written by the faculty. All of these require staggering investments

of time and energy but their findings enliven the classroom and add to SAIS’ luster as the international studies program

that continues to stress language and area studies as critical components of its international brand. — Karl D. Jackson

T

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If you would like to apply your gift to a specific fund, please let us know. If you have no preference, be assured

we will use it to the best advantage.

* SE Asia Alumni & Friends Fellowship * Summer Internships and Inter-session Language Study * Tran Thi Quynh Hoa Fellowship * SE Asia Policy Outreach Program of your choice

Here is how to make a contribution: By check: Make checks payable to: “Johns Hopkins University,” and designate the SE Asia fund of your choice on the “For” line. Mail to: Johns Hopkins SAIS Southeast Asia Studies Program 1619 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20036

By credit card: Credit card contributions can be made through the SAIS website (www.sais-jhu.edu). Select: “Giving”—“Make a Gift”—“Washington” and then follow the link under “Online.” In the form under Gift Information, select “Other” under Gift Designation and annotate your description with “Southeast Asia Studies” and the fund name. The SAIS Development Office will send you a contribution receipt for tax purposes.

With sincere thanks to our

alumni and friends who have gener-ously given to student fellowships and our other important program funds. The Southeast Asia Studies Program Newsletter is published online at www.sais-jhu.edu.

Editor: Jacqueline Ganem

Contributing Editor: William M. Wise

Submissions and comments are welcome and

should be addressed to the Editor, Southeast

Asia Studies, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.

Washington, D.C. 20036; seasia@jhu.edu

Please give generously to the AY 2015-16 Campaign

ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-15 SELECTED ACTIVITIES

Wednesday Lunch Seminar. Carla Freeman (SAIS ’99) executive director of the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and associate director of SAIS China Studies, on teach-ing China in Myanmar; Bilahari Kausikan, ambassador-at-large, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Singapore foreign policy; Bill Hayton, BBC News reporter, on the South China Sea; Kim McQuay, The Asia Foundation’s country representative to Thailand, on the Thai political climate five months post-coup; Michael McDevitt, senior fellow at the CNA Corporation, on U.S. policy regarding the South China Sea; Amy Searight, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, on defense engagement in Southeast Asia; Ted Osius (SAIS ’89), U.S. ambassa-dor to Vietnam, on tales of a foreign service career; Yanghee Lee, United Nations spe-cial rapporteur, on human rights in Myan-mar; Thitinan Pongsudhirak (SAIS ’92), associate professor at Chulalongkorn Uni-versity, on Thailand’s crises, coups and constitutions, and John M. Harrington, Jr., associate dean for academic affairs, on a SAIS education.

SAIS Philippines Roundtable. H.E. Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., ambassador of the Philip-pines to the United States, on the 2015 US-Philippine bilateral relationship (co-sponsor,

U.S.-Philippines Society); Zachary Abuza, independent consultant, on Mamasapano and the Philippine peace process; Ambassa-

dor John F. Maisto, president of the U.S.-Philippines Society, and William M. Wise, senior associate director of SAIS Southeast Asia Studies, on the Philippines “People Power Revolution”; and Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, chair of the Government Negotiating Panel for Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace talks.

SAIS Burma Study Group. James J. Shea (SAIS ’05) economic officer, U.S. Embassy Rangoon, on current economic issues of Bur-ma. With major support from Chevron Corporation.

Indonesia Corner @ SAIS. Joseph Chin-yong Liow, Lee Kuan Yew Chair in South-east Asia Studies, Brookings Institution, on Indonesian foreign policy. With major support from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia.

SAIS Thai Club. Jeff M. Moore on his recent publication The Thai Way of Coun-terinsurgency (A Muir Analytics Book, 2013). With major support from the Royal Thai Embassy.

Embassy of the Philippines 3.27.15 (L to R): SAIS Associate Dean John Harrington, Jr., Ambassador John Maisto (U.S.-Philippines Society), H.E. Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., ambassador of the Philippines to the United States, SAIS Professor William Wise, and Mr. Hank Hendrickson (U.S.-Philippines Society).

SAIS 11.19.14 (L to R): John D. Forbes, senior adviser, American Chamber of Commerce (Philippines), who spoke at a SAIS Philippines Roundtable on economic development in the Philippines, and SAIS student Gian Gozum.

Royal Thai Embassy: H.E. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, ambassador of Thailand to the United States (2013–early 2015) with SAIS Thai Club officers (L to R): Kevin Cottrell, Supanat Chan-um, and Pechnipa Lam.