Chapter 4: ASEAN and Regionalism in Southeast Asia §

(F) Day of the week: Wednesday Class: IS210 Created Time: March 25, 2020 2:23 PM Database: Class Notes Database Date: March 25, 2020 2:23 PM Days Till Date: Passed Last Edited Time: June 9, 2021 10:42 AM Type: Lecture

I. What is Regionalism §

Group of countries with Geographical Proximity and mutual interdependence

Causes §

• Political Factors

  • Power Dynamic: shifts in the balance of power, coalitions, and regions form to deal with larger powers

    Indonesia’s Leadership of SEA by Sukano

  • Identity: anti-communistic, not democratic, authoritarianism in different ways (ASEAN value)

  • Ideology: ASEAN Way, wants centrality role for ASEAN

  • Political System: diversity of different authoritarianism states

  • Shared external and internal threats

• Economic Factor: regionalism improves trust and interdependence between states
  • ASEAN’s current economies are not interdependence
  • Desire to be interdependent, ⇒ grow bigger
  • regional cooperation ⇒ maximize national interest
  • Don’t want interdependence to compromise sovereignty

II. ASEAN Current Day §

• Indonesia remains in the leadership role

  no states compete Indonesia for leadership

  • Indonesia’s larger geography, population, economy
  • Other states rely on Indonesia more than Indonesia rely on others/

• ASEAN Survived the Cold War: Indochina

• ASEAN’s noncontentious approach: not to bring up sensitive domestic issues of other countries ⇒ no institutional authority or coercive power

• ASEAN acts as the bigger body to negotiate internationally (but members have different national goals)

Expansion of Membership §

Decreases ASEAN cohesion

• Cambodia & Laos: China used to stop collective decision makings on the South China Sea Dispute. (2012, Cambodia)
• Singapore’s Initiative for ASEAN Integration was flawed intergrational plan: lacking mechanisms to make happen

ASEAN Initial Evolution §

• Member states only met after a decade after ASEAN creation (to combat spread of communism): members don’t value ASEAN
• The secretariat has no power, only office, and meeting coordinator
• ASEAN unilateralism initiatives
  • ASC and AEC were to annouced in 2020, but Thailand and Singapore insisted for it to be annouced in 2015 instead
  • When faced with big challenges, members switch to unilateralism and seek external help rather than rely on ASEA

ASEAN Charter §

Adopted in Cebu, the Philippines 2007

• Noninterferance
• Peaceful settlements
• Prohibition of threat and other violent ways
• Self determination, no external coercions.
• Mutual respect for each states’ soverignty equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations.

Conclusion §

ASEAN has not fulfiled it’s objectives

• Lack will to compromise soverignty for better ASEAN
• “Old wine in new bottle” says that ASEAN uses the same system even if its flawed
• Weak interdependence