ARTICLES

10 Jun 2022

The Need for Power Balance Amidst Rising Great Power Contestations

Daljit Singh

ASEAN and its constituent states must not neglect the crucial importance of maintaining a balance of influence and power between the great powers to secure space for their own independence.

23 Feb 2022

The State of Southeast Asia Survey

Southeast Asians’ View of Quad and AUKUS: Some Thaw, But Not Yet Warm

William Choong

In recent years, the United States has sought to involve its middle-power friends and allies in various regional initiatives to counter a rising China. Southeast Asia continues to have mixed feelings about this.

ASEAN AUKUS Quad

22 Oct 2021

Southeast Asian Responses to AUKUS: Arms Racing, Non-Proliferation and Regional Stability

William Choong|Ian Storey

AUKUS is a wake-up call to ASEAN that it needs to be more proactive on security issues and cannot take its centrality for granted.

ASEAN Unity AUKUS Australia China Quad South China Sea Southeast Asia U.S.

4 Oct 2021

The Quad and the Indo-Pacific: Going Slow to Go Further

William Choong

In recent years, the Quad has gained momentum in response to growing Chinese assertiveness. But a lower key strategy is advised to allay regional concerns that ASEAN’s centrality will be undermined by a minilateral arrangement helmed by external powers.

ASEAN Australia India Indo-Pacfic Japan Quad U.S. U.S. Foreign Policy

11 Aug 2021

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s Southeast Asia Tour: Assurances and Dividends

William Choong|Hoang Thi Ha|Le Hong Hiep|Ian Storey

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to three Southeast Asian countries in July 2021 was aimed at reaffirming America’s commitment to regional alliances and partnerships amid concerns of US neglect of the region in the first six months of the Biden administration.

ASEAN China China-U.S. Relations Quad U.S.

10 Aug 2021

US Challenges in Southeast Asia Under Biden

Robert Sutter

The Biden Administration has reinvigorated its approach towards Southeast Asia. This, however, will be limited by important US priorities and Southeast Asian reluctance to irk Beijing.

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

27 Jul 2021

The United States’ “Mini” Shangri-La Dialogue: Stand and Deliver

William Choong

When Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, speaks at the 40th Fullerton Lecture in Singapore tonight, he will need to go beyond speaking about esoteric concepts such as the “rules-based international order” and promise that Washington will provide tangible deliverables in the form of pandemic assistance, economic growth and trade.

China-U.S. Relations Quad Southeast Asia State of Southeast Asia Survey U.S. Foreign Policy

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

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