Subnational conflict is the most widespread, enduring, and deadly form of conflict in Asia. Over the past 20 years (1992-2012), there have been 26 subnational conflicts in South and Southeast Asia, affecting half of the countries in this region. Concerned about foreign interference, national governments limit external access to conflict areas by journalists, diplomats, and personnel from international development agencies and non-governmental organizations. As a result, many subnational conflict areas are poorly understood by outsiders and easily overshadowed by larger geopolitical issues, bilateral relations, and national development challenges. The interactions between conflict, politics, and aid in subnational conflict areas are a critical blind spot for aid programs. This study was conducted to help improve how development agencies address subnational conflicts.

Informal and unregulated economic activities remain an important feature of Mindanao's economy. Despite its enduring presence, the informal economy has largely been overlooked in the analysis of Mindanao's conflict dynamics. As a result, little is understood about the informal economy's impact on armed violence, development, and governance. This study, which represents the first attempt to incorporate the informal economy into the broader analysis of the region, argues that one cannot comprehend Mindanao's political and economic challenges, let alone address them, unless these shadow economies are scrutinized further.

Across more than four decades, the conflict between the national government and Muslim liberation forces in the southern Philippines has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. Two landmark agreements under the presidency of Benigno S Aquino III — the first in 2012 and the second in 2014 — raised high hopes that peace might finally be on the way. But the peace process stalled, and has yet to regain momentum, after a botched counterterrorism operation in early 2015.This volume provides both in-depth examination of the latest stage of a still-ongoing peace process as well as richly textured analysis of the historical, political, and economic context underlying one of the most enduring conflicts in the world. It is thus an extremely important foundational resource in the continuing quest for peace and prosperity in Mindanao.

Why were Moro insurgents unable to sustain their authority and legitimacy after gaining access to political power? The study shows how rebels who surrendered their arms in exchange for formal authority were unable to compete with powerful clans and local elites who provided basic security; captured increasing amounts of internal revenue allotments under a regime of devolution; and, enabled the spread of a shadow economy that boosted their power and allowed citizens to secure their livelihoods with little taxation by the state. The implications are quite startling. Political legitimacy is not necessarily about building a strong state, but about weakening it. Legitimacy may be less about building peace, and more about demonstrating an ability to inflict violence. This books is useful to scholars interested in other contexts of insurgency and rebellion, and in understanding the challenges that lie behind sub-national state building and political settlements.

This book makes a significant interdisciplinary contribution to existing scholarship on ethnicity, conflict, nation-making, colonial history and religious minorities in the Philippines, which has been confronted with innumerable issues relating to their ethnic and religious minority populations. Using Sarangani Bay as a research site, the book zones in on the lives of the Muslim Sinamas and the Christianized indigenous B'laans as they navigate the effects of the ongoing turmoil in the Bangsamoro region in Muslim Mindanao—a multi-faceted conflict involving numerous armed groups, as well as clans, criminal gangs and political elites. This work considers the factors affecting the Muslim Moro people, who have long been struggling for their right to self-determination. The conflict in the Moro areas has evolved over the past five decades from an ethnonationalist struggle between an aggrieved minority and a thorny issue for the central government: a highly fragmented conflict with multiple overlapping causes of violence. The book provides a framework for understanding the ethnic separatism in the case of the southern part of the country, framed by the concept of ethnic boundaries. Providing an excellent blend of theory and empirical evidence, the author confronts how ethno-religious divisions adversely impact the quality of life and unpacks how these divisions challenge multiculturalist policies. Weaving together multiple branches of the social sciences, this book is of interest to policymakers, researchers and students interested in international relations and political science, Asian studies, ethnic studies, Philippines’ history, sociology and anthropology.