1995-10-01a- CIA Conference Report: THE CHALLENGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER IN THE 1990S GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES 01-Oct-95

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the loyalty, allegiance, and cooperation of ethnic Christianity advances, both in the mountains and also,
groups whose interests were perceived as similar in distinct urban and lowland mainstream communi-
to those of the funding agency. But, as the recent ties, the potential for tension rises. Such tension may
example of Afghanistan indicates, it is often easier to be based on longstanding differences between the
inflame ethnic, religious, and tribal passions than to established religion in the lowlands and the new world
control them. religious affiliation in the highlands. Such tension may
also result from newly acquired skills in literacy,
Religious Tensions enhanced ethnic consciousness, and strengthened
Southeast Asia has generally been regarded as a resistance in the face of perceived lowland cultural
region of religious tolerance. Indonesia, the nation assimilation policies.
with the largest Muslim population, is located here, as
are the majority of the world's Theravada Buddhists. Tensions in Malaysia and Indonesia between Muslim
Major Christian communities are found here as well majority populations and Christian minorities has led
not only in the Philippines but also as minorities in to violence in the past and may do so in the future. In
almost all the nation-states of the region. In the cities, Indonesia tensions between Christians and Muslims
Chinese-Southeast Asians worship at Buddhist, Con- have been rising, especially in light of the ongoing
fucian/Taoist, and-increasingly-at Christian sanc- advance of Christianity in remote outer island regions
tuaries. In the recent past, ethnic, religious, and and in parts of Java formerly inclined towards pre-
ideological conflicts have sometimes been bound as Hindu religious affiliation. Similarly, in Malaysia the
one. underlying tensions between Christian and Confucian
Chinese and Muslim Malays has erupted in significant
The most gruesome expression of intracommunal con- violence in the recent past (1969) and could certainly
flict since the close of the colonial era in Southeast do so in the future. In Vietnam largely clandestine for-
Asia transpired in Indonesia-largely on Java and eign missionary operations are underway in many
Bali-in the wake of an abortive Communist coup in parts of the country. These could engender internal
1965. As the Indonesian Army moved to seizepower conflicts and ignite ethnic and nationalist passions in
from President Soekarno, a massive slaughter of Com- ways unintended by their proponents. Highland Bur-
munist and Communist-affiliated intellectuals, peas- mese rebels, especially in Karen and Lahu regions,
ants, and workers was sanctioned (Hefner, 1990: have, since independence, always manipulated their
193-215). The victims were depicted as godless trai- Christian affiliation as one of the several aspects of
tors. The executioners were largely drawn from regional independence threatened by Burmese nation-
fanatic Muslim youth groups. The rhetoric was that of alism as defined in Rangoon. In Thailand, the rela-
national salvation through righteous retribution. The tively small highland population-about 9 percent of
reaction of the Western world to these events was gen- the country-is increasingly constrained from practic-
erally one of unrestrained approval. In the context of ing shifting cultivation. Pressure on the land has led to
the Cold War, the destruction of the largest Commu- accelerated conversions among groups such as the
nist party outside the Eastern Bloc was deemed to be a Karen and the Akha in recent years. Such affiliation
major victory for the West. The conflict with the Com- may indeed strengthen the will, resolve, and capability
munists was carefully couched in religious terms in of formerly isolated peoples to resist incursions upon
Indonesia to generate maximum support for the new land and culture. As the case of Burma indicates, eth-
regime. nic conflict can result if the relations between minority
and majority communities fail to be negotiated with
A little noted but.clearly significant element in the tact and understanding.
Southeast Asian religious landscape is the rapid
spread of Christianity in recent years. The tradition- Border Regions
ally animist highlanders across much of the region In a region as diverse as Southeast Asia, subprovincial
have opted for Christian conversion as a means of district borders are often isomorphic with linguistic
maintaining their distinct identity in the face of-Bud-
dhist or Muslim lowland pressures to assimilate. As
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