Julia Tijaja, Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, and Rania Teguh analyse how ASEAN can navigate the growing overlap between economic and security concerns while preserving regional resilience.
Category Archives: ASEANFocus
India’s Rising Profile in Southeast Asia and the Test of Strategic Relevance
Joanne Lin examines why improved perceptions of India in Southeast Asia remain fragile, and what it will take to turn momentum into meaningful cooperation.
Operationalising the AEC Strategic Plan 2026-2030: From Aspirations to Real Action
Denis Hew analyses the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Strategic Plan 2026-2030, focusing on its ambitious goals and how they can be expanded, while highlighting concerns over its actionability and the broader implications on ASEAN.
Enhancing ASEAN’s Intra-Regional Trade Need Not Require Bells and Whistles
Kristina Fong discusses how steps to strengthen ASEAN’s intra-regional trade need not require re-inventing the wheel but rather concerted efforts in practical measures to reduce trade facilitation frictions.
Why Advancing Intra-ASEAN Student Mobility Can Help Boost ASEAN’s Integration Journey
Melinda Martinus contends that increasing intra-ASEAN student mobility could unlock economic opportunities, strengthen human capital, and foster a shared regional identity, provided the bloc can overcome structural barriers.
The Mango Flavour: India and ASEAN After a Decade of the Act East Policy
ASEANFocus+ is delighted to feature Ambassador Gurjit Singh, author of The Mango Flavour: India and ASEAN After a Decade of the Act East Policy (ISEAS Publishing, 2025). Drawing on his decades of experience as a diplomat, Ambassador Singh reflects on ten years of India’s Act East Policy and assesses whether it has fulfilled its goal of deepening engagement with Southeast Asia.
In Search of Effective and Peaceful ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms
Him Raksmey argues that the effectiveness of ASEAN’s dispute settlement mechanisms depends on the comfort level of each member state vis-à-vis one another and ASEAN as a regional institution.
Rooted in Community: Bridging Gaps in Mangrove and Peatland Conservation
Gauri Sasitharan argues that, in the absence of strong legal protections for mangrove and peatland conservation in ASEAN, grassroots communities are emerging as the region’s most important stewards of these ecosystems.
Eating Chinese Soft Power
Isabelle Chua analyses the rapid expansion of Chinese food brands, highlighting how this trend has become an informal yet influential form of Chinese soft power in Southeast Asia.
Roundtable on the Future of Global Trade
On 2 April 2025, the Trump 2.0 administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs aimed at eliminating the US trade deficit with individual countries – in a move hailed by US President Donald Trump as “Liberation Day”. Southeast Asian countries have not been spared, with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar among the hardest hit. Some countries, including China, have responded with retaliatory measures, raising the risk of further escalation from the US. While a temporary 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs offers a brief respite, this period is set to expire in early July.