Co-published with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, this volume is a report of a conference held in March, 1984 on fundamental issues and an assessment of the field of Southeast Asian studies. Contributions include a practitioner's perspective on Southeast Asian studies; assessing U.S. scholarly resources on Southeast Asia; politics and their study; adapting the area study center concept to new needs; ensuring quality in language skills; ethnic diversity and social change; Indochinese refugees; Southeast Asia and ASEAN as regional concepts; Southeast Asia, the humanities and the question of relevance.