Southeast Asia has never formed a unified political realm nor has it ever developed a cultural or civilizational unity. The present volume brings together observations about "Southeast Asia" drawn from a number of regional and disciplinary perspectives. The authors look at the region from the standpoint of Thailand and the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, Japan and the Asian mainland, the South China Sea and the seacoasts of the region. They also consider the significance of borders and of a monetary network, of transnational flows of people, goods and information, and of knowledge in shaping Southeast Asia both for its residents and in the eyes of a wider world.
