ARTICLES

8 Aug 2022

55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: Much Ado About Everything (or Nothing)?

Sharon Seah|Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meetings last week occurred at a time when the region was seeing ructions, be it in the Taiwan Strait, Myanmar or the war in Ukraine. ASEAN can boast that it has retained its convening power, but this in itself might be insufficient.

3 Aug 2022

Ukraine’s Accession to TAC: A Critical Decision for ASEAN

Joanne Lin

ASEAN has a chance to stand up for international peace by allowing Ukraine to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Failing to do so would highlight the weakness of the organisation at a time when small and medium states need to hold firm against great power bullying.

ASEAN ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting Russia Ukraine

28 Jul 2022

Promoting Inclusive Growth with Digital Identification in ASEAN

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

Digital identification could be a silver bullet to increase tax revenues for ASEAN governments while pulling the region’s poorest out of poverty by redistributing wealth.

ASEAN Digitalisation

26 Jul 2022

Shinzo Abe’s Legacy: The Centrality of Southeast Asia

David Arase

Shinzo Abe learned that Japan’s security did not lie in its military, but Japan’s good citizenship in a free-trading rules-based order. Southeast Asia was central to his pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

ASEAN Indo-Pacific Japan Japan-Southeast Asia Relations

26 Jul 2022

The U.S.-China Strategic Competition in the Pacific: Something ASEAN Needs to Watch

Daljit Singh

Beijing’s recent moves to establish security cooperation with Pacific Island states have riled the U.S. and Australia. ASEAN needs to watch the ongoing great power competition there closely to draw lessons for its own security.

ASEAN AUKUS Australia China Maritime Security Pacific Islands Quad Security U.S.

25 Jul 2022

No Room at the Inn? ASEAN Should Not Delay Timor-Leste’s Membership

Julia Lau

Timor-Leste hopes to become a fully-fledged ASEAN member in 2023 when Indonesia takes over as ASEAN Chair. The regional grouping should allow its admission, even if embracing this newest member, the most democratic in the region by some measures, might prove to be uncomfortable.

ASEAN Timor-Leste

19 Jul 2022

Enhancing ASEAN Access to Finance with Digital Banknote

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) form an integral part of ASEAN economies, but they have not been able to access sufficient financial resources to unlock their growth potential.

ASEAN Digitalisation Economic Development Monetary Policy

18 Jul 2022

Can the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Derail Southeast Asia’s Decarbonisation Efforts?

Mirza Sadaqat Huda

The commodities supply crunch can disrupt Southeast Asia’s goal of attaining net-zero targets in the next few decades. While regional countries have backtracked on climate commitments, the crisis can stimulate long-term strategic responses such as accelerating decarbonisation efforts and developing domestic deposits of critical minerals.

ASEAN Climate Change Energy Environment Renewable Energy

15 Jul 2022

China’s Global Security Initiative Stoking Regional Tensions

David Arase

China has doubled down on its alignment with Russia against the West. This has led to a proliferation of minilaterals and security partnerships aligned with the United States.

ASEAN China-U.S. Relations Indo-Pacific

14 Jul 2022

Can Indonesia Provide Much-needed Leadership in ASEAN?

Joanne Lin

Indonesia's various moves on the foreign policy front suggest that it is preparing for a robust role as ASEAN Chair when it takes over the regional grouping's leadership in 2023. However, its ambitious ideas for revitalising ASEAN will meet headwinds regionally and globally.

ASEAN Indonesia Indonesia Foreign Policy