Overview of the Regional Fissures

Essay Topic Two: Regional Fissures
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Essay Topic Two: Regional Fissures
Overview of the regional fissures
Japan, South Korea (Korea), Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines have experienced fissures that have sometimes threatened the progress of the nations. In Japan, the main challenge has been the tensions between Tokyo and Okinawa. The problem started in 1972 when the gruesome 1945 Battle of Okinawa ended in 1972 (Vogt, 2022: 224). After Japan’s surrender, Allied forces were determined to demilitarize the nation and ensure it does not wage war again (Allinson, 1997:76). In the 1960s, the then–Prime Minister Eisaku Sato had called for Okinawa’s reversion. He believed the move would “mark the end of the postwar period for the nation” (Vogt, 2022: 224). However, little progress has been made over the years as 70% of the US military bases in Japan are stationed in Okinawa than being spread to other areas. The locals in Okinawa feel that they bear a larger burden than other regions.
In Korea, the main problem is the electoral cleavages because of regionalism. The antagonism between southwest and southeast has filed sharp divisions in political views. Koo (2017: Para 1) quotes a 2008 article by wire agency Yonhap that “If the U.S. has racism, South Korea has regionalism.” The problem of regionalism has caused political cleavage in Korea. Such cleavages have caused strong antagonism in the nation, threatening the emergence of separatist movements in the affected regions.
In Indonesia, there are various lessons to be learned about handling autonomy/secession immediately after the fall of Suharto. Aspinall (2013: 127) indicates that following the fall of Suharto, “early signs of separatist contagion in Indonesia seemed to herald a disintegrative mobilizational spiral.” Indonesia was on the verge of breaking up like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The two ethno-federal states had demonstrated that multiethnic states could easily disintegrate with the secessionist regions becoming recognized nation-states. According to Aspinall (2013: 129), many thought that Indonesia needed to embrace decentralization “it wanted to avoid the fate of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia”
The Philippines had experienced decades of armed conflict in Muslim Mindanao. The 40 years of conflict had “killed more than 120,000 persons and displaced millions” (Hutchcroft, 2016: 2). However, the culmination of the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government has brought a period of calmness. In 2019, the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) brought hope to the people that communities could coexist.
The conflict in southern Thailand has caused casualties over the years. The Thai government has been in bitter rivalry with separatists like the Barisan Revolution Nasional (BRN) separatists. According to the International Crisis Group (19 April 2022:1), the conflict has caused the death of more than 7,300 people since 2004. However, in January 2022, the official dialogue between the Thai government and BRN resumed. The two sides promised to reduce viole...