The most frank, readable and detailed account available in the English language of the political, economic, environmental and cultural changes sweeping through Southeast Asia. By the mid-1990s, Southeast Asia and its fast-growing economies were the envy of the world. The region's leaders boasted that their societies, based on hard work and family values, were superior to those of the decadent West. Then came the financial crash of 1997. The Trouble with Tigers examines in detail the miracle that turned sour, including: - the debate about the existence of 'Asian values' - the relationship between democracy and authoritarianism - SE Asia's Generation X - as wild and happy-go-lucky as any Western teenagers - the region's political and business leaders - the environmental disaster befalling the region - power politics - between Russia, China and the United States - in the region Victor Mallet talks to politicians, drug addicts, environmentalists, warlords, prostitutes, peasant farmers and captains of industry in a vivid and perceptive study that sheds much-needed light on the complexities of this varied region.