About

Sebastian Strangio is a journalist and author focusing on Southeast Asia. Since 2008, his reporting from across the region has appeared in more than 30 leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Posts tagged "Politics"
Thai Monuments Are Disappearing in the Dead of Night

Thai Monuments Are Disappearing in the Dead of Night

This week’s student protests are part of a backlash against a monarchist elite trying to erase Thailand’s democratic history.
The Myanmar Mirage: How the West got Burma wrong

The Myanmar Mirage: How the West got Burma wrong

Just few years ago, Myanmar (also called Burma) was widely seen as an international success story.
Thai Politics Has a Princess but No Storybook Endings

Thai Politics Has a Princess but No Storybook Endings

With elections coming, the junta still fears the specter of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Turning east

Turning east

By most accounts, the past few years have been anni horribiles for human rights and democracy in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

With strong Chinese support, Prime Minister Hun Sen has effectively destroyed all opposition to his autocratic rule.
The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

Turning “The Lady” into a secular saint only helped Myanmar’s junta.
Cambodia's Crumbling Democracy

Cambodia’s Crumbling Democracy

Behind the growing repression of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government
After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

For decades, Indonesian society has experienced a slow process of Islamization. In 2017, the pace picked up.
Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Indonesia’s former dictator looms in bronze over the entrance to the small museum set amid the palm trees and rice fields of central Java.
Welcome to the Post-Human Rights World

Welcome to the Post-Human Rights World

Geopolitical realignments and the rise of populist nationalism have unleashed a global backlash against human rights.
Pankaj Mishra on the Violent Transition to Modernity

Pankaj Mishra on the Violent Transition to Modernity

At the center of gravity shifts east, Pankaj Mishra argues that the West’s own fateful experience of modernity is playing out globally
Power and Democracy

Power and Democracy

The late historian Benedict Anderson once reflected that voting was a peculiar form of political action.