Rethinking ASEAN Cooperation: Fewer Words, More Action
Hoang Thi Ha
Amid rapid geopolitical shifts, ASEAN should focus more on practical outcomes and developing capabilities rather than expending effort on negotiating lengthy statements.

Hoang Thi Ha
Amid rapid geopolitical shifts, ASEAN should focus more on practical outcomes and developing capabilities rather than expending effort on negotiating lengthy statements.
Joanne Lin|Kristina Fong Siew Leng|Melinda Martinus
Joanne Lin, Kristina Fong and Melinda Martinus argue that as global crises become increasingly interconnected, ASEAN faces mounting pressure to strengthen energy security, maritime cooperation, and crisis coordination before the next disruption strikes.
Lee Jaehyon|Ko Youngkyung
Lee Jaehyon and Ko Youngkyung elaborate how Korea’s new ASEAN policy under President Lee Jae-myung emphasises pragmatic, and mutually beneficial cooperation across security, economic, and people-to-people domains.
Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus|Kristina Fong Siew Leng
Joanne Lin, Melinda Martinus and Kristina Fong examine the outcomes of the 47th ASEAN Summit and assess Malaysia’s achievement as the ASEAN Chair.
Tham Siew Yean
The potential of RCEP can only be unlocked when micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which constitute the backbone of the ASEAN economies, can navigate and utilise its provisions with ease.
Tang Siew Mun
US President Donald Trump’s decision to attend the upcoming ASEAN Summits in Kuala Lumpur has put the Malaysian authorities in a pickle.
Joanne Lin|William Choong
President Trump will make a spectacle of his presence in Kuala Lumpur, but is unlikely to offer ASEAN the reliable, long-term engagement it seeks.
Joanne Lin|Pou Sothirak
The Code of Conduct (COC) negotiations between ASEAN and China have reached an impasse, hindered by legal ambiguities, strategic divergences, and ASEAN’s internal divisions. ASEAN must move away from a binary approach that equates success with legal binds, and instead explore more pragmatic alternatives.
Elizabeth Buensuceso
ASEANFocus+ is pleased to feature H.E. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, the Philippines’ Eminent Person to the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Post-2025 ASEAN Community Vision (ACV). As the ACV 2045 was adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Ambassador Buensuceso offers insights into its development, sharing the formulation process and how the ACV 2045 will help ASEAN navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving geopolitical environment.
Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus|Kristina Fong Siew Leng
Joanne Lin, Melinda Martinus and Kristina Fong analyse how Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship and Vision 2045 reflect ASEAN’s strategic recalibration amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.