"Shows how anticommunist nationalism in Southeast Asia intersected with preexisting local antipathy toward China and its diaspora, ushering the region from European-dominated colonialism to U.S. hegemony"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction : recovering the regional dimensions of U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia -- Darkest moment : the fall of Singapore and "Chinese penetration" in the domino logic of American Cold War policy -- Patriot games : how British nation-building colonialism solved "Chinese penetration" and inspired the United States -- Manifest fantasies : British-Malayan counterinsurgency and nation-building in American strategy for the world (and Vietnam) -- The best hope : Malaysia in the "wide anti-communist arc" of Southeast Asia -- The friendly kings : Southeast Asia's transition from Anglo-American predominance to U.S. hegemony -- Coda : the reverse domino effect.