Explaining State-Muslim Minority Relations in Southeast Asia: Different Paths Toward Peace and Violence

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, İşletme Fakültesi, İngilizce Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2023

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: Anwar Koma

Danışman: Gül Mehpare Kurtoğlu Eskişar

Özet:

This thesis examines the variations of the state-Muslim minority relations in Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore. The key question is what are the underlying conditions that contributed to peace and violence between the states and Muslim minority groups in the selected cases. It uses a comparative method with limited first-hand findings supported by secondary data and resources. After critically reviewing the contending explanations, this thesis introduces the variations of the civil-military relations as the underlying condition that shaped different paths of the state-Muslim minority relations in the four cases. While military control empowers the persistence of state violence against Muslim minority groups in Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines, civilian control not only constrains the state’s use of violence against Muslim minorities but also reinforces peaceful relations between the state and Muslims in Singapore. As this overall pattern implies, the origin of state violence against Muslim minorities stems from the persistence of military control in those countries.