Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Laos provides a comprehensive introduction to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s recent development and transformation.The handbook showcases state-of-the-field interdisciplinary research across six themes: The Basics, The Populace, Political Economy, Resources, International and Challenges. Individual chapters provide specialist and non-specialist readers with a rigorous overview of 32 fundamental topics in Lao Studies, from ‘The Par...

Laos has the smallest population, the weakest military, and despite rapid economic growth in recent years, one of the lowest levels of per capita income in mainland Southeast Asia. Yet a glance at the map reveals its strategic location, between China and Cambodia and Thailand and Vietnam. As Laos was formerly a crossroads for trade routes, the socialist government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic seeks to transform the country into a prosperous crossroads at the heart of this rapidl...