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Abstract
Indo-Pacific, connected by water and the strait of Malacca, is home to great civilizations encompassed Africa, Asia and the Archipelagos in between. Nevertheless, Western civilization intervened and strongly influenced the societies when the era of colonialism begun. Hence, the societies are disrupted, and nation-states are created imitating what European colonial powers conveyed, especially one of the indigenous and most prominent civilizations such as Islam. Along with the rise of the Muslim population in the Indo-Pacific, Islam, as one of the remaining civilizations and Muslim society (ummah), has to strive in its native land to keep the rights upheld. This paper will examine the problematical condition that occurred after decolonization in Indo-Pacific or Global South, which ummah faced in the nation-state model and being a minority at the same time. The qualitative design will be utilized as the methodology with critical interpretative method which will be written inductively. It intends to answer the rise of ummah that contributes to globalizing International Relations (ir) by providing an alternative international system in the post-colonial era that was previously shaped by Euro-American centrism. The paper will also emphasize the history of Asia as a significant momentum in ir discipline, and as an attempt to criticize the Euro-American centric model during the colonialism era in Global South societies by exhibiting examples in ummah condition who struggle within its nation-state in post-colonial era due to the absence of mutual understanding and the perpetuation of ethnopolitical conflict as the legacy of Western colonialism and imperialism.
Abstract
This article revisits the political thought of Filipino statesman Claro M. Recto (1890–1960), with a focus on the idea of nationalism. Upon his return to Congress in 1952, Recto advocated for Filipino nationalism in response to the so-called “special relationship” between the Philippines and the United States in the post-independence period. He claimed that the Philippines, though granted independence in 1946, remained under the disparaging political and economic influence of the United States because of one-sided treaties. In Recto’s mind, this “special relationship” was the main reason for the country’s retrogression in attaining political and economic growth and development. Throughout his post-independence career in Congress, Recto was consistent in his posture of advocating Filipino nationalism. This article uncovers that Recto’s nationalist crusade was anti-imperialist in principle against American neocolonialism thus only protective of the welfare of the Filipinos. This rereading of Recto’s political thought hopes to add more nuance understanding about him, but it also deepens our understanding of the essence of nationalism in the postcolonial period in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.