Note: This course is restricted to ALL Members
If you are in need of financial assistance to take this course, reach out by email to allinfo@acadiau.ca. Financial support is available
The Long War for East/South East Asia
Dr. Brendan Wright
The 20th century is often framed by the two World Wars fought in Europe, yet a sustained and transformative period of conflict likewise took place in East and Southeast Asia, spanning nearly five decades from 1931 to 1979. This lecture series explores the interconnected struggles of the Chinese Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, the Korean War, the Indochina Wars, and the Maoist Revolution, culminating in an examination of how these conflicts continue to shape historical memory and reconciliation efforts.
Far from being a series of isolated national conflicts, these wars represented an ongoing, multifaceted struggle involving colonial empires, emerging nation-states, ideological battles, and shifting alliances. As in Europe, where the two World Wars are often seen as a continuous historical process, the wars of East and Southeast Asia must be understood as part of a larger, interconnected struggle that shaped the global order.
By reframing the wars of East and Southeast Asia as a single, extended conflict comparable in scale and complexity to the World Wars in Europe, this course challenges Eurocentric narratives of 20th-century global warfare. These wars shaped the modern geopolitical order, from the rise of Communist China to the division of Korea and Vietnam. Moreover, the ideological and nationalist struggles that defined this period continue to influence regional tensions and global politics today.
This lecture series will provide students with a deeper understanding of the long war that defined East and Southeast Asia, drawing connections across decades of conflict to illustrate how these wars were not merely adjacent but fundamentally interconnected. Through critical analysis of historical events and contemporary debates on war memory, students will leave with a nuanced grasp of one of the most consequential eras in modern history.
Instructor
Brendan Wright
Dr. Brendan Wright obtained his PhD in history at the University of British Columbia in 2016. He has taught at various universities, including the University of Toronto, Carleton, Dalhousie, Saint Mary’s
University, the University of Prince Edward Island, the University of British Columbia, and Acadia University. His work has appeared in a number of leading academic journals in the fields of Asian studies, memory studies, and genocide studies. Dr. Wright’s research focuses on mass killings, state-building, and processes of Truth and Reconciliation on the Korea peninsula.
