This chapter introduces the puzzle in Southeast Asia alignments explored in this book, which centers on why clear alignment adjustments are so complex and difficult to execute and sustain across neighbors, major powers and other regional and intercontinental actors, including through balancing, bandwagoning or middle positions around neutrality, non-alignment or hedging. The chapter summarizes the argument developed in this book, centered on: (1) an original Mandalas of Multialignment (MOM) approach to understanding connectivity in Southeast Asia alignments; (2) a new Balance of Alignment (BOA) model to describe adjustments in the alignments of Southeast Asia governments across nearly a century, drawing on an international relations theoretical approach known as neoclassical realism; (3) an original “5C” path to the Connective Alignment Management (CAM) process detailing how Southeast Asian states can navigate alignment adjustments amid changes in the domestic, regional and international environment including varying degrees of major power competition in the twenty-first century; and (4) a new SPIDER framework to assess alignment web-weaving by Southeast Asian states across their own spheres of influence and a SCRIBE framework on alignment management traits. It also frames the significance of the book’s investigation and outlines the approach that will be taken across the remaining chapters.