This essay evolves around o­ne simple thought: when you undermine your neighbour's stability, you threaten your own stability. Nothing could be more obvious, unless we are not sure who our 'neighbours' are. In a region like Southeast Asia, this is hardly surprising.

Geographically, we are situated at a cross-point. Since geography often determines political patterns, so it would be fair to say that we are situated at political crossing-points too. We are constantly being tugged at and harassed by different groups to buy into various political ideologies. This has gone o­n ever since seafaring technology existed, resulting in what I would term as Southeast Asia's 'fragmented identity'.

To give a superficial example, 'ASEAN' to Southeast Asians is no more than a name that appears in our history textbooks o­nce, maybe twice. To explore a more serious example, it seems to me that stereotyping is the o­nly means in which Malaysians can distinguish o­ne neighbour from another. To us Malaysians, Singaporeans are arrogant, Indonesians are housemaids or construction workers, Thais are a drug-menace, Vietnamese are hmm, are they in Southeastt Asia?

All this would be almost 'acceptable', except for o­ne thing: our fragmented identity renders us incapacitated in the face of external pressure. Looking at the 20th Century there were many opportunities to secure a more stable environment by being conscientious about our neighbours and our collective problems.

For example, the realisation of the impact of the Cold War remains unaddressed. The treatment of Cold War in our history textbook is cool, if not entirely cold. The US and Russia were competing for spheres of influence, and vulnerable (identity-less), resource-rich region like Southeast Asia became a desirable target. Hence the Communist Insurgency in Malaysia. Hence too the US-Vietnam war.

Yet, we have not been taught to place these events within the larger context, namely, Southeast Asia as a battleground between communism and capitalism. If I was asked to describe the US-Vietnam War, I'm sorry but I'm at a loss for words. But my ignorance is appalling when you consider that this was a common experience, as far as the physical battle was concerned, being waged o­n our territory. .

With the current US-Arab 'war', Southeast Asia is o­nce again the battleground for expanding spheres of influence. But again, we remain ignorant of this. As a result, we become easy targets. In Malaysia, sympathies are drawn broadly along ethnic lines: x-group is for the Arabs, y-group is for the US.

This is a very grave situation. We are undermining our own stability because we fail to understand our own identity and hence our neighbours. It is fine to have sympathy for the Palestinian cause, and be concerned about the o­nslaught of 'terrorism'. But it is downright stupid to give priority to these sympathies, over the stability of our own society and the well being of our own children.

Allow me to draw a painful analogy. The Balkan wars of the 1990s was a final expression (we hope) of the non-Communist West's against Russians, who tried hard to maintain the remnant grip they had o­n the region. Because of ignorance - suddenly, being 'Serbian' or being 'Croatian' was more important than being Balkan and salvaging their own peace - this sped up the conflict.

Continued refusal to understand the political changes and fragmented identities scattered across our region means risking our own security along the lines of the Balkan conflicts. Our neighbours are certainly not the Arabs or the Americans. If we went to war (civil or cross border war), do you think the Arab states or the Americans will feel sorry for us? No, of course not. They'll be pumping in arms for their own cause. Just as the Russians and the Americans did in the Balkans, not long ago.

If we fail to guard against this, we shall always remain a battle-ground for someone else's war. We are already being labelled by the Pentagon as 'the second front in the War Against Terror'. But we can defend ourselves more effectively by overcoming our fragmented identity. We can go either of the two ways: do it like they did in the Balkans, or do it like they are doing in the EU.

By recognising the history of our common experience as a region over the centuries, we are better placed to stand up against those undermining our hard-earned peace and stability