ARTICLES

29 Aug 2025

In Search of Effective and Peaceful ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms

Him Raksmey

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.

15 Aug 2025

What Can Timor-Leste Bring to ASEAN?

Julia Lau|Sharon Seah

The debut of Timorese respondents in the 2025 State of Southeast Asia survey reveals their sentiments pertaining to a challenging geopolitical landscape and hints at the potential value that the incoming eleventh member can bring to ASEAN.

ASEAN State of Southeast Asia Survey Timor-Leste

1 Aug 2025

Rooted in Community: Bridging Gaps in Mangrove and Peatland Conservation

Gauri Sasitharan

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.

ASEAN ASEANFocus Environment Sustainable Development

28 Jul 2025

The Thailand-Cambodia Border Crisis is ASEAN’s Moment of Truth

Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus

Inaction on the Thailand-Cambodia conflict undermines ASEAN’s raison d'être by the day. There is still time to salvage the situation.

ASEAN Cambodia Cambodia-Thailand Relations Thailand

22 Jul 2025

Malaysia’s Push for the ASEAN-GCC-China Summit: Connecting Past and Present

Kuik Cheng-Chwee

Malaysia’s initiative to establish the ASEAN-GCC-China summit underscores a long-standing desire to connect past and present.

ASEAN China Malaysia Malaysian Politics Southeast Asia

16 Jul 2025

Rubio’s Reassurances to ASEAN Ring Hollow

Joanne Lin

US Secretary of State came to Malaysia with well-crafted words about the importance of ASEAN, but his rhetoric is undermined by Washington’s protectionist trade policies.

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

14 Jul 2025

Myanmar’s Opposition to Timor-Leste’s ASEAN Membership

Max Lane

ASEAN faces an intriguing test of its own decision-making procedures, as consensus might be elusive given the apparent obstruction of one member to the full accession of its eleventh member.

ASEAN Myanmar Timor-Leste

11 Jul 2025

The 2016 South China Sea Ruling at Nine: Where Does ASEAN Stand?

Pham Ngoc Minh Trang

Nine years after an international arbitral tribunal ruled in the Philippines’ favour against China on the two parties’ disputed claims in the South China Sea, there are some glimmers of a more coherent – but still imperfect and incomplete – ASEAN position on the hotspot issue.

ASEAN China China-Philippine Relations Philippine South China Sea

9 Jul 2025

Eating Chinese Soft Power

Isabelle Chua

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.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations ASEANFocus China F&B

1 Jul 2025

Possible Conflict in the Taiwan Strait: Southeast Asia Can Help US Maintain Focus

Ryan Hass

Amid growing risks of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Southeast Asian countries can spur thinking on the Taiwan question by prodding Washington to match its words with deeds.

ASEAN China Pete Hegseth Taiwan US