The Military and Public Governance in Southeast Asia: A Review for Sustainable Development

Abstract

This study maps the landscape of military studies in eleven Southeast Asian countries from 2000 to 2025 to assess the extent to which public governance themes appear in the scholarly literature. Using descriptive bibliometric analysis and VOSviewer network mapping of 1,977 Scopus-indexed documents, the study finds a persistent governance gap. Only 7.0 percent of publications fall under Business, Management and Accounting, while the majority of the literature is dominated by geopolitical, health, and technological studies. Countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore dominate the discourse, while Laos, Brunei, and Timor-Leste remain largely silent in the global academic map. This gap reflects a structured accountability deficit, where themes such as budgeting, procurement, and personnel management remain largely untouched. The study argues that strengthening security sector governance is a prerequisite for sustainable development in the region, particularly in achieving strong and accountable institutions. It calls for a new research agenda that bridges military studies and public administration, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and participatory governance in the defense sector.