Thailand: Shifting Ground Between the US and a Rising China

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In this authoritative modern history, Benjamin Zawacki tells the story of Thailands changing role in the world order, chronicling the country's move from a key ally of the United States and a bulwark against communism in Southeast Asia after World War 2 to its shifting allegiance towards a rising China in the 21st century. This fully updated edition now covers the aftermath of the 2014 coup d'etat, the impacts of climate change and China's "Belt and Road" initiative and Thailand's responses to the rise of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Featuring major interviews with high ranking sources in Thailand and the US, including deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand is a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Thai elite and their dealings with the US and China.

Reviews

Exhaustively researched ... an excellent contribution to understanding American and Chinese foreign policy in Southeast Asia. * Bangkok Post *
Presents a clear-eyed and well-informed analysis of a critical moment, in which ideals of democracy and human rights, never deeply rooted, are giving way as Thailand increasingly sees its future tied to a rising China. * Seth Mydans, Southeast Asia correspondent for The New York Times *
Zawacki deftly unpacks Thailands complex and evolving relationships with the United States and China, and issues a wake-up call to U.S. policymakers. * Elizabeth Economy, Director of Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations *
A must-read for those concerned by Chinese ascendency in Southeast Asia and its implications on human rights in the coming decades. * Tyler Giannini, Human Rights Program Director, Harvard Law School *
An important book at a pivotal moment. Zawacki brings clear eyes and rigorous research to one of Americas most complicated and historically important Asian relationships. * Shawn W. Crispin, Southeast Asia Editor, Asia Times *
Zawacki skillfully tells the story of Americas oldest Asian ally, exploring how equivocation in Washington and dysfunction in Bangkok is allowing a resurgent China to extend its talons into a disturbingly authoritarian Thailand. * Charlie Campbell, Beijing correspondent for TIME *
Zawackis carefully documented and balanced analysis lifts the curtain on a gradual, often invisible, but seemingly inexorable geopolitical shift. It provides a thorough explanation of the circumstances that have led Thailand, once seen as an unequivocally staunch U.S. ally, to lean increasingly toward a pragmatic and strategically assertive China. * Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University *
Presents a powerful counter-argument to the conventional wisdom that China's economic rise alone explains Thailand's pivot from the US to China. In thoroughly researched detail, the book traces a sorry trail of US condescension and clumsy diplomacy. * Daniel Fineman, author of A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand *
Now comes the rare American deeply informed of a faraway country of whose people we know nothing, in a profoundly disturbing study of how the world-changing US-China dynamic unfolds in Thailand. Read and weep. * Jeffrey Race, author of War Comes to Long An: Revolutionary Conflict in a Vietnamese Province *
An important contribution to the field of Thailand's foreign relations. * Contemporary Southeast Asia *
The US has failed to reliably present democracy and human rights as alternatives to the China Model. It has allowed its interests to override its values, and hence is vulnerable to accusations of hypocrisy. Zawacki argues that the US must correct for these two failures and make the kind of commitment to Asia that Obama promised but never delivered. * New York Review of Books *
Benjamin Zawackis book on Thailand is a fine, deeply researched study of a critical pivot state that gets less attention than it deserves. It is an example of blending area expertise with political philosophy: the best kind of book. * Robert D. Kaplan, author of Monsoon and Asias Cauldron *
The expanded second edition of Benjamin Zawackis superb study reveals not only Thailands continued maneuvering between China and the United States, but the growing gravitation of Bangkok more fully into Beijings regional orbit. Crucial reading for understanding the geopolitics of Southeast Asia. * David Shambaugh, George Washington University, and author of Where Great Powers Meet: America & China in Southeast Asia *
In his authoritative history, Zawacki shares a poignant, accessible, and ultimately heartbreaking tale of U.S. foreign policy blunders and opportunities lost. Those unfamiliar with Thailand will come away informed. Current officials should find Zawacki's analysis cautionary and instructive. * Frank Jannuzi, President and CEO, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation *
The release of a new edition of Zawacki's analysis of how the U.S. lost Thailand to China comes at a propitious moment: just as a new administration has taken over in Washington and is figuring out how to re-engage strategically-located Southeast Asia. * Murray Hiebert, author of Under Beijings Shadow: Southeast Asias China Challenge *
Zawacki is a resourceful and knowledgeable guide through the past half-century of Thai history, and helps illuminate how the countrys labyrinthine politics has been reflected in its shifting international alignments. An essential examination of Thailands position in an era of American drift and resurgent Chinese power. * Sebastian Strangio, author of In the Dragons Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century *

Author Bio

Benjamin Zawacki was a visiting fellow in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School in 2014-15, and a term member on the Council on Foreign Relations through 2016. He was Amnesty International's Southeast Asia researcher for five years, and served as a policy advisor to President Jimmy Carter and two other Elders in Myanmar. A regular contributor to the media in Southeast Asia, he has lived in Thailand for 15 years.