Southeast Asian civil society is increasingly shaped by a geopolitical language it did not choose. As great-power competition intensifies, funding shrinks, security narratives harden, and civic space contracts, organizations defending human rights, democracy, and environmental justice are pushed into survival mode. While Indo-Pacific policies invoke democracy and the rule of law, these ideals are often eclipsed by trade and security priorities. For many activists, the Indo-Pacific is an external frame detached from everyday struggles, leaving civic work more precarious, politicized, and exposed even as its geopolitical relevance grows.
