L’Asie du Sud-Est 2026
Bilan, enjeux et perspectives
Edited by Gabriel Facal and Jérémy Jammes
IRASEC, Bangkok,
February 2026, 488 p.
French Text
Every year, the Institute for Research on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), based in Bangkok, brings together some 20 researchers and experts to analyze regional news.
A true economic, cultural, and religious crossroads, Southeast Asia is a unique space where diversity comes together. Asie du Sud-Est. Bilan, enjeux et perspectives collection tracks the evolution of major contemporary issues in this continental and insular region of more than 690 million inhabitants, shedding light on the trajectories of its states and societies, as well as its processes of regional integration and openness to the world.
L’Asie du Sud-Est 2026 offers a clear and in-depth analysis of the main events that marked the year in the eleven countries of the region. Political developments, economic dynamics, social transformations, environmental and diplomatic issues : each chapter provides a rigorous and accessible overview. It also highlights two prominent figures from each country and revisits an emblematic event through a powerful image.
The book includes three thematic sections devoted to major regional issues : food security in the face of climate change, the reshaping of multilateralism (around the BRICS+), and road safety. A debate completes this collection with a cross-cutting and interdisciplinary reflection on traffic dynamics.
Finally, practical tools enrich the volume : maps, fact sheets, and annual chronologies by country, as well as a section compiling the main demographic, social, economic, and environmental indicators.
This publication has been supported by :
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Table of Contents
Authors
ASEAN facing the polycrisis : integration dynamics and fragmented security (Gabriel Facal and Jérémy Jammes)
FILES OF THE YEAR
Food Security in ASEAN : Navigating Socio-Economic Shifts and Climate Hazards (Cyrille Moyon)
ASEAN and BRICS+, the return of the Bandung spirit ? (Françoise Nicolas)
Road safety in Southeast Asia : multiple and converging risk factors (Chamaiparn Santikarn, Le Nguyen, Mirjam Sidik and Frans Tohom)
DEBATE
Circulations, Flows, Fractures : Centering Southeast Asia in Transnational Circuits (Jérémy Jammes, Frédéric Lasserre, Gauthier Mouton and Beatrice Zani)
THE COUNTRIES
Burma - 2025, the twilight of the Spring Revolution (Tim Gascon)
Brunei - Between Devotion and Allegiance to the Middle Kingdom ? (Marie-Sybille de Vienne)
Cambodia - The cost of war and the price of peace (Clément Berthou)
Indonesia -The ambitions and costs of Prabowo Subianto’s recentralized developmentalism (Gabriel Facal)
Laos - Economic difficulties, geopolitical maneuvering, and deadly storms (Phill Wilcox)
Malaysia - The time of al-sabr (David Delfolie and Anas Idrissi-Gusinde)
Philippines - Corruption scandals against a backdrop of family rivalries (François-Xavier Bonnet and Elisabeth Luquin)
Singapore - The Unbearable Lightness of the Singaporean Being (Éric Frécon)
Thailand - Structural malaise due to lack of reforms (Henning Glaser)
Timor-Leste - ‘50 Years’ and 11th ASEAN Member, numerous commemorations and new challenges (Christine Cabasset)
Vietnam - From one Đổi mới to another. Consolidating power in a deteriorating geopolitical climate (Jean-Philippe Eglinger and Pierre Journoud)
Key-indicators
