The Trouble With Tigers: The Rise and Fall of South-East Asia Book

Victor Mallet has been a correspondent of the Financial Times in Southeast Asia since 1991 and he brings first hand observation of the effects of the unprecedented rapid economic development of Southeast Asian agrarian societies over three decades and of the impact of the sudden economic slump that began in 1997. Basically, he sees little that is intrinsically "Asian" in all of this. The promotion of Asian value is seen as a doomed attempt by authoritarian leaders to appeal to ideals of a previous era in times of bewildering change. The principal causes for the current upheavals are seen as the lag between the extraordinarily rapid economic changes and the failure to develop appropriate modern social and political institutions. The main strength of this timely book is the way in which Mallet has been able to use his unique access to people of all walks life to give detailed but compelling depictions of each of the 10 countries of Southeast Asia. Despite the enormity of their problems, the reader is given a basis on which to feel confident about their future. --Michael YahudaRead More