From: "Frank Conlon" <conlon@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 3:51 AM
Subject: H-ASIA: REVIEW Hutchins on Hamilton-Hart, _Hard Interests, Soft
Illusions: Southeast Asia and American Power_
> H-ASIA
> December 5, 2012
>
> Book Review (orig pub. H-War) by Arthur W. Hutchins on Natasha
> Hamilton-Hart. _Hard Interests, Soft Illusions: Southeast Asia and
> American Power_.
>
> (x-post H-REVIEW)
> ************************************************************************
> From: H-Net Staff <revhelp@mail.h-net.msu.edu>
>
> Natasha Hamilton-Hart. Hard Interests, Soft Illusions: Southeast
> Asia and American Power. Ithaca Cornell University Press, 2012. x
> + 243 pp. $39.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8014-5054-9.
>
> Reviewed by Arthur W. Hutchins (Norwich University Alum)
> Published on H-War (November, 2012)
> Commissioned by Margaret Sankey
>
> Natasha Hamilton-Hart in _Hard Interests, Soft Illusions_ advances
> the argument that there continues to be a strong belief in Southeast
> Asia that the United States is a benign hegemon. Among foreign
> policymakers in the six countries detailed in her study (Singapore,
> Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), not
> only is this belief persistent but these polities also "are basically
> comfortable with U.S. influence and presence" (p. 7). Does this beg
> the question whether the hegemony of the United States in Southeast
> Asia may be in decline as current affairs in the Middle East might
> suggest? Hamilton-Hart explains why this is not likely in Southeast
> Asia even though it may be happening in other areas. She advances the
> view that although there may be an existing erosion of unipolarity
> and some signs of a return to soft balancing and "bandwagonin" by
> smaller states against the United States, these positions are slow to
> materialize. "The United States is not perceived as a potential
> threat because it is not a threat" (p. 9). Nations do not fear their
> loss of sovereignty because of U.S. power even though the United
> States has been involved in many violent episodes in Southeast Asia
> while developing its positions to contain communism. The book
> contains six chapters; a well-documented appendix containing
> interview data of the seventy-four interviews conducted during her
> research principally for chapter 4, "History Lessons," and chapter 5,
> "Professional Expertise"; and a voluminous bibliography.
>
> By examining the interests of the governing or ruling power elites in
> each country, Hamilton-Hart develops her argument of relatively
> "benign hegemony." These hard interests drive associations or
> alignments toward the United States. "The origins of alignment lie in
> the outcome of domestic political struggles ... and the sectional
> interests of contenders for power who seized the opportunities
> presented by American anticommunism" (p. 10). Hamilton-Hart points
> out that strong belief about the United States and other contenders
> for hegemonic status, in ways that deviate from common assumptions,
> are not necessarily inaccurate. She considers these beliefs
> "illusions." Some "externally verifiable standard" is required to
> determine whether such beliefs are accurate or inaccurate. She notes
> that illusions "are shaped, first, by the direct political, economic,
> and career interests of power holders, foreign policy practitioners,
> and those in the wider foreign policy community" (p. 11).
>
> Two chapters of the book explore the formation of beliefs about the
> United States as a benign power. Chapter 4 retells the national
> histories of each of the six countries, especially focusing on the
> role and nature of anticommunist policies and local domestic
> struggles. Chapter 5 describes the beliefs held among the foreign
> policy community. Explored within this chapter is the "defeat and
> silencing of the political left (or right, in the case of Vietnam)
> since the 1960s or earlier" (p. 143). Hamilton-Hart examines the
> beliefs and attitudes of different groups with different memories,
> agendas, and conceptions of interest to determine if changes in the
> alignment of power groups, as a result of domestic struggles, alter
> the attitude toward the United States and beliefs about the role it
> plays as a hegemon in the region. She concludes that those exposed to
> different national histories form different judgments about the
> United States. Power holders have shaped the national histories
> "while their opponents have either been written out of history or
> demonized as treasonous" (p. 14).
>
> Hamilton-Hart uncovers a telling point in her research. She writes
> that "the prevailing professional wisdom was that irritation with the
> United States or moral qualms about its policies should not impede
> bilateral relations.... Underpinning this orientation are the
> foundational beliefs that American power is fundamentally benign and
> that an American presence in the region is necessary for stability
> and prosperity" (p. 146). Hamilton-Hart makes this statement when
> comparing China as an alternative hegemonic power. So, why is the
> United States considered beneficial to the region? The answer should
> not be surprising; a former Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels,
> outlined it seventy years ago. A Malaysian former official
> paraphrased the answer to Hamilton-Hart that if you repeat something
> often enough it is believed (p. 159).
>
> It is not likely that this position of benign hegemon will prevail in
> Southeast Asia. A decline is currently occurring in the U.S.
> worldwide position as the unilateral superpower. This waning position
> is encouraged by American policies of the "war on terror" and by the
> current U.S. economic circumstances. Will the United States continue
> to have the economic capacity to serve its regime interests?
>
> The book does not address the question of which fundamental beliefs
> about the United States are correct. That depends on where one
> stands. For example, Hamilton-Hart writes: "America's wars in
> Indochina which claimed around a million deaths and an even larger
> toll in terms of other casualties and environmental damage in Vietnam
> alone are recalled in parts of the foreign policy community of other
> Southeast Asian countries as an instance of American sacrifice that
> 'held the tide' and 'bought time' for the region. Past Chinese
> 'meddling' in Southeast Asia is more frequently recalled than
> interference by the United States" (p. 192).
>
> The book adds significantly to the knowledge and research of students
> of international relations and area studies of Southeast Asia. It is
> scholarly in presentation and well organized as it moves the reader
> through the development of its thesis. The principal weakness of the
> work is that its area of interest is too narrow. There is
> considerable geophysical overlap with other nations surrounding the
> region of the six targeted countries and they are noticeably
> missing--Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, and
> Pacific Island nations, among others. Concentrating on the six is
> fine but they contain a historical symmetry and relevance of belief
> systems. Other leftist leaning countries, like Laos, Myanmar, and
> Cambodia, with other experiences, would be welcome additions to the
> synthesis and analysis.
>
> Citation: Arthur W. Hutchins. Review of Hamilton-Hart, Natasha, _Hard
> Interests, Soft Illusions: Southeast Asia and American Power_. H-War,
> H-Net Reviews. November, 2012.
> URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=36985
>
> This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
> Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States
> License.
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