SECTION 1: AUTHORITARIANISM, CRISIS AND DEBT: THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CRISES IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Neoliberal policies - often driven by corporate interests - demand a strong state to enforce market priorities while eroding democratic values. This is where authoritarianism and corporate dominance intersect. Authoritarian regimes manipulate legal systems to shield corporations from accountability and protect their profits, consolidating power and entrenching inequalities. International systems that control resource-flow entrench unequal power systems, skewing decision-making making heavily to global North governments and private financial institutions, who work in collusion. This leads to the suppression of dissent and the dismantling of civil liberties. In such contexts, debt often becomes a weapon in this arsenal, shackling nations to a system that prioritizes profit over people, control over democracy, and authoritarianism over freedom.20 BY DROWNING GLOBAL SOUTH COUNTRIES IN DEBT, THESE POWERS FORCE GOVERNMENTS TO ADOPT HARSH AUSTERITY MEASURES, STRIPPING AWAY PUBLIC SERVICES AND SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS. THIS, IN TURN, DEEPENS INEQUALITIES AND CONSOLIDATES CORPORATE INFLUENCE, AS PUBLIC RESOURCES ARE PRIVATIZED AND CITIZENS ARE LEFT MORE VULNERABLE. By drowning Global South countries in debt, these powers force governments to adopt harsh austerity measures, stripping away public services and social protection systems. This, in turn, deepens inequalities and consolidates corporate influence, as public resources are privatized 20 Gallo, E. (2021). “Three varieties of Authoritarian Neoliberalism: Rule by the experts, the people, the leader.” Labor History, 26(5), 1619–1636. https://doi.org/10.1177/10245294211038425 17