ARTICLES

28 Feb 2023

Is ASEAN Centrality on Life Support?

Zack Cooper

The term “ASEAN centrality” is used so often that one assumes the concept is alive and well. But as recent polling suggests, ASEAN centrality is at the risk of going bankrupt.

14 Dec 2021

ASEAN and the Group of 7: Same Bed, Different Dreams

Joanne Lin

The Group of 7 is courting ASEAN in a bid to increase its profile in the Indo-Pacific. It is easy to list the convergences in approaches between the two groupings. But the divergences are more significant.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality China U.K. U.S. UNCLOS

14 May 2021

ASEAN’s Mission to Myanmar: An Approach to Ends with Possibilities of Success

Hoang Thi Ha

All eyes will be on the incoming mission of the ASEAN Chair’s special envoy in Myanmar to facilitate talks between the military junta and civilian government it toppled earlier this year. But the writing is already on the wall – the envoy has a mountain to climb.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality Myanmar Myanmar Politics

10 May 2021

The ASEAN Way: Zen and the Art of Great Power Maintenance

William Choong

Recent official rejections of China’s “nine dash line” claims in the South China Sea by Southeast Asian disputant states are not about closer alignment with the US.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality ASEAN-China Relations U.S. Foreign Policy

27 Apr 2021

ASEAN Emergency Summit: In the Hot Seat

Sharon Seah

One can assess ASEAN’s recent emergency meeting in Jakarta in two ways. One scenario is cautiously optimistic; the other would be tantamount to pure fatalism.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality ASEAN-China Relations Myanmar Myanmar Politics U.S. Foreign Policy

12 Aug 2020

Finding ASEAN’s Voice Amid the Din of Geopolitics

Hoang Thi Ha

The re-emergence of the “neutrality” term in a recent ASEAN statement shows the underlying tensions between a fallback position based on neutrality and autonomy, as opposed to a more forward “principled neutrality” position based on international law.

ASEAN ASEAN Neutrality ZOPFAN