East Asia & SE Asia

Mongolia, China, Japan,

Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand,

Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia,

Indonesia, & the

Philippines

Mongolia

• Mongolia was a communist nation from 1921-1992 under the influence of the Soviet Union

• Became a democratic Parliamentary Republic in 1992

• Switch to a market economy had a few problems, high inflation & food shortages

• Has good relations with Russia, China, North & South Korea, Japan , & the USA

China

• Most populous nation• Totalitarian Communist nation• Currently allowing more capitalist ideas to

filter in• 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising caused

another crack down • Dilemma-How to become part of the

world’s market economy & maintain totalitarian control?

China Today• Showing off to the world

with the Beijing Olympics & the Shanghai World Expo

• Has power because it is the largest market in the world

• Also becoming one of the top lenders in the world, recently helped “bail out” the US market

• Has a horrible human rights record

North Korea

• Totalitarian Communist Regime• Led by Kim Jong Un• Has been in the news for claiming to

have nuclear weapons• Arresting 2 US reporters & tried them

as spies• Sinking a South Korean naval ship at

the end of March 2010 in violation of the truce signed in 1953 ending the Korean War

North Korea Today

South Korea

• The Republic of Korea was established on August 15, 1945 after it was liberated from Japan with the end of WWII

• Korea went from being one of the poorest nations in the world immediately after WWII to having one of the 20 largest economies in the world

• The Asian Financial crisis of 1997-1998 forced economic reforms that have protected them in the recent economic downturn

South Korea Today

• South Korea has built a hi-tech industrialized economy

• There has been some political issues following the suicide of the former President Roh Moo-Hyun in May 2009

• North Korea sank a South Korean naval ship on March 26, 2010 killing 46 of the 104 sailors on board, they have taken the issue to the U.N. Security Council

Vietnam

• Communist state with a single party system

• The government has “committed” to a “liberal, integrated” modern economy since the 1990s, it remains one of the poorer nations in the world

• There has been a more open culture in the last 20 years

Images of Vietnam

• Gained independence from Britain in 1948• Taken over by General Ne Win in 1962 &

became a Socialist Republic in 1974, he ruled until 1988

• 1990 open elections were held• 1997 a military junta seized power again

Myanmar(Burma)

Myanmar Today

• The leader of the opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under strict house arrest since 1989

• She has been beaten the few times she has been released & even punished when a western journalist swam to her house in May 2009

• Military leaders rejected international aid after a devastating cyclone in May 2008 because they refused to allow workers into the country

Thailand

• Constitutional Monarchy

• Has seen rapid economic growth due to increased tourism

Tsunami

• December 26, 2004 a 9.1-9.3 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra caused a devastating tsunami

• Close to 230,000 people died throughout the Indian Ocean Basin, one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history

Laos

• Gained independence from France in 1949

• Became a communist nation in 1975• Closely aligned with Vietnam• Began to decentralize the economy in

1988

Cambodia• Gained independence

from France in 1953

• Communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, won a five year civil war in 1975

• Khmer Rouge killed ~25% of the population in the 5 years they ruled

• Attempted to recreate the Khmer Empire

Cambodia Cont’d

• Vietnamese occupied from 1978-1988, civil war ended in 1991

• Government elections held in 1993 & 1998

• Pol Pot was captured & tried in 1997, he died under house arrest in April 1998

• It is a constitutional monarchy today

• Elections in July 2008 were peaceful

Malaysia

• Established in 1963 from several independent states

• Home to Singapore, the busiest port in the world

Indonesia

• Gained independence in 1945

• A Democratic Republic

• Current hot bed of terrorist activity

• 17,508 islands in the South Pacific

• Largest Muslim population in the world

Philippines

• Former U.S. colony from the Spanish American War

• Gained independence in 1946• Ruled by dictator Ferdinand

Marcos from 1966-1986• Democratic government

established in 1986 when Corazon Aquino was elected president

• Has had relatively peaceful transfers of power for the last 27 years