Southeast Asia’s ‘narco-state’ and ‘scam-states’ undercut authoritarian rule boasts

The year 2023 has been one of disorder in Southeast Asia. 

War is still raging in Myanmar, where perhaps thousands of civilians were killed this year, on top of hundreds more soldiers and anti-junta fighters. ASEAN, the regional bloc, has failed yet again to either bring the warring parties to the negotiation table or, as a result, take a sterner position on the military government that took power through a coup in early 2021.

A consequence of the escalation of political violence in Myanmar has been the proliferation of crime. According…