Geography encompasses everything from the localwhere human beings live, work, and travelto metageographies like nations and regions. James A. Tyners inventive and multidisciplinary ideas on geography similarly range from the personalhis fathers experience in the military during the Vietnam Warto a broad discussion of how the United States has come to exercise power through the production of geographic knowledge, in this case in Southeast Asia. Since the end of the Second World War, Southeast Asia has served as a surrogate space to further American imperial interests, which are economic, political, territorial, and moral in scope. Americas Strategy in Southeast Asia contends that the construction of Southeast Asia as a geographic entity has been a crucial component in the creation of the American empire. For example, Americas most blatant experience of colonial rule occurred the Philippines, Americas longest war was fought in Vietnam, and most recently, some American policymakers have identified Southeast Asia as the Second Front in the War on Terror. Yet, Americas overriding strategy in Southeast Asia and the region itself remains something of a mystery for the American populacea black box in Americas geographical imagination. This clear and innovative book educates readers about Southeast Asias importance in American foreign policy.