Traditionally referred within geo-political terms, "security" had been demarcated in the framework of deterrence, power balancing and military strategy. Now, with rapid developments in communications and information technology, and the unstoppable march of globalisation throughout the world, it is inevitable that security issues be viewed on a wider dimension. Since the end of the Cold War, non-traditional security issues have moved into the forefront in the policy and research agendas of governments, non-govermental organisations (NGOs), scholars and international organisations. Particulary in Southeast Asia, where countries have been hit in varying degrees by the 1997 financial crisis, non-traditional security issues have become even more accentuated.

The contributions to this volume, covering the areas of Globalisation and Security, Regional Institutions and Security, Governance in Plural Societies and Security, and Environmental Security, present stimulating analyses and insights to various non-traditional security issues that are of scholarly and policy relevance to Southeast Asia.