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ASEAN Summits: Be Like Water

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In this episode of Dialogues at Fulcrum, William Choong, Managing Editor of Fulcrum, talks to ISEAS researchers Moe Thuzar and Sharon Seah about the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits. They discuss the key highlights of the meetings, ASEAN’s continued engagement with external powers such as Australia, China and the United States, and Cambodia’s chairing of ASEAN in 2022.

In this episode of Dialogues at Fulcrum, William Choong, Managing Editor of Fulcrum, talks to ISEAS researchers Moe Thuzar and Sharon Seah about the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits. They discuss the key highlights of the meetings, ASEAN’s continued engagement with external powers such as Australia, China and the United States, and Cambodia’s chairing of ASEAN in 2022.

Moe Thuzar is the Co-coordinator of the Myanmar Studies Programme. Sharon Seah is the Coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre.

Dialogues at Fulcrum is a podcast published by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.

For quick reference, the themes below were addressed during the podcast:

1:10 – Highlights from the 2021 ASEAN Summits

3:08 – Why the Summits matter to ASEAN citizens

6:23 – The concept of non-interference: in evolution?

10:18 – China and Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN

14:04 – China, the United States and Myanmar

18:21 – Biggest takeaways from the Summits

21:54 – The impact of a ‘virtual’ summit

25:56 – ASEAN centrality and Myanmar

31:31 – The “true beauty” of ASEAN: shape shifting

33:30 – The SAC’s legal challenge to ASEAN: holding water, be like water

Sharon Seah is Senior Fellow and concurrent Coordinator at the ASEAN Studies Centre and Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. She is also editor of Building a New Legal Order for the Oceans.


Moe Thuzar is Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Myanmar Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.