The Stratbase Institute held the virtual launch of the book Mandalas of Multialignment: Hedging Bets in Southeast Asia Grand Strategy Spheres, Foreign and Security Policy Webs, and Global Geopolitics and Geoeconomics. Authored by Stratbase Institute Non-Resident Fellow Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran, the book presents a new connective approach to analyzing Southeast Asia’s alignment shifts in grand strategy and foreign and security policy. 

In his remarks, Stratbase Institute President Professor Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit stressed that, despite its limitations, ASEAN remains an indispensable foundation of regional cooperation, not only among its member states but also among its many external partners that share a mutual interest in a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Southeast Asia. He further emphasized that the future of Southeast Asia will depend not only on how we respond to an evolving strategic environment, but also on whom we choose to partner with and whether those partnerships uphold a shared commitment to peace, stability, and the rules-based international order. 

The Institute once again congratulates Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran for this timely contribution to the study of Southeast Asia as ASEAN leaders and partners convene in the Philippines for key regional meetings. The Institute also expresses its gratitude to our Non-Resident Fellows, Dr. Don McLain Gill, Dr. Maria Thaemar Tana, and Major General Francisco Aquino (Ret.), for sharing their perspectives on the book’s contribution to understanding Southeast Asia’s evolving strategic landscape.