ARTICLES

11 Jun 2021

ASEAN’s Climate Cooperation with China and the US: Challenges and Prospects

Sharon Seah

The US is back in the international climate cooperation game, but it has a lot to catch up on to make up for the last four years when it chose not to play.

4 Jun 2021

Brunei’s Visit to Myanmar: No Time to Run Down the Clock

Evan A. Laksmana

A team from Brunei is reportedly visiting Myanmar this weekend. The aims of the visit are yet unclear. Still, Brunei, as ASEAN Chair, should first announce the identity of the grouping’s Special Envoy to the country and empower him or her with the necessary resources to carry out the task at hand.

ASEAN Brunei Myanmar

Mekong River at Sangkhom district in the northeastern Thai province of Nong Khai

1 Jun 2021

The Mekong River Ecosystem in Crisis: ASEAN Cannot be a Bystander

Hoang Thi Ha|Farah Nadine Seth

Despite being the premier regional organisation in Southeast Asia, ASEAN remains a bystander in the imminent collapse of the Mekong River ecosystem. The successful mainstreaming of transboundary haze pollution in ASEAN’s legal and institutional frameworks are instructive for invigorating ASEAN’s engagement in the Mekong issues.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations Climate Change Energy Environment Mekong River

25 May 2021

Fighting Covid-19: China’s Soft Power Opportunities in Mainland Southeast Asia

Chheang Vannarith

In mainland Southeast Asia, the Chinese government’s effective measures to curb the pandemic outbreak at home and the provision of Covid-19 assistance to regional countries have enhanced China’s soft power. Most of the mainland Southeast Asian countries, except Vietnam, have been receptive to China’s Covid-19 diplomacy.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations China COVID-19 Southeast Asia Vaccine Diplomacy

17 May 2021

Quad 2.0: Beyond “Not Making Choices”, Giving ASEAN a Slew of Options

Shruti Pandalai

India’s grappling with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic at home has only highlighted the need for greater “issue-based” coalitions in the Indo-Pacific. This is relevant to ASEAN as the grouping looks to assert its centrality in regional affairs.

ASEAN COVID-19 India Quad

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

14 May 2021

Is the East Asia Summit Suffering Erosion?

Hoang Thi Ha|Malcolm Cook

Over the last decade, the EAS, by default and by ASEAN’s design, has been the peak mechanism in the ASEAN-led regional architecture. Keeping it so will not be easy, amidst shifting big-power dynamics and the growing attractiveness of smaller and more effective regional mechanisms.

ASEAN ASEAN Summit Quad

12 May 2021

In Conversation with Parag Khanna

William Choong

In this inaugural episode of Dialogues at Fulcrum, William Choong, Managing Editor of Fulcrum, sits down with Parag Khanna to discuss his book, “The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict and Culture in the 21st Century”.

ASEAN Asia Pacific China-U.S. Relations Dialogues at Fulcrum Southeast Asia

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