Long before there were the nation states of Southeast Asia, the region was dominated by a series of ancient empires. This legacy of the region, which lasted centuries and still manifests itself in some ways in contemporary Southeast Asia today, is often not fully appreciated amid the focus on the immediate and more recent postcolonial dynamics. Luke Hunt from The Diplomat speaks with author Philip Bowring about the ancient empires of Southeast Asia and how maritime trade helped shape a region long before the colonial era. Listen here.