Southeast Asia as a region of political importance is a new concept. It arose after World War II to designate the countries lying between India China and Japan. This “quiet backyard” of the world began to attract attention as a result of the freedom movements and the possible complications they might cause.
The reasons presumably why the several states in the area were lumped together without differentiation in the minds of the Westerners as one geographic concept are: first, very little was known about them, and from a distance they all looked alike; second with the exception of Thailand, the territory was colonial and the feeling was abroad that the metropolitan powers would handle the problems resulting from nationalism and independence movements; and third, nobody seemed to have any particular interests in the area, not even the colonial powers which appeared willing gradually to abandon ownership.