ASEAN and evolving power relations in East Asia: strategies and constraints

This article seeks to examine constraints and challenges that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are confronted with in formulating and implementing their strategies in response to evolving regional environments represented by the rise of China. It argues that China's southern neighbours have adopted purposeful strategies in order to mitigate potentially negative effects from China's growing capabilities in East Asia. These strategies led to the expansion of membership in the East Asia Summit (EAS) and positive involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, encouraging America's substantial commitments to the Asia-Pacific. However, ASEAN has failed to form the unified front on the EAS and TPP because its members have adopted diverse stances on and policies towards the two institutions. Moreover, an identity issue constitutes a crucial impediment to promoting cooperation between ASEAN members and the USA. While Washington has intensified diplomatic linkages with ASEAN, the US identity shown in its adherence to the results-oriented approach still provokes some concerns among the ASEAN members.     

Why (most) Indonesian businesses fear the ASEAN Economic Community: struggling with Southeast Asia’s regional corporatism

By the end of 2015 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had ushered in a common market, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). However, the groups most affected by it – small businesses – were bypassed in the decision-making process. They are the victims of a selectively inclusive state corporatism which member countries have transferred from their domestic political system to the regional level. In this article I argue that the decision to create the AEC was promoted by ASEAN governments together with foreign economic and local corporate interests. This coalition was able to frame the AEC in a way that small businesses perceived it as a win-win scheme. Empirically the article focuses on Indonesia.     

Conflict management and constructive engagement in ASEAN's expansion

This article examines the expansion of membership in ASEAN which has occurred during the second half of the 1990s, and identifies the factors behind this process, with particular attention devoted to the efforts aimed at implementing the conflict management mechanisms of ASEAN on a wider regional level. The study takes as its starting point the rapprochement between the original member states of ASEAN and Vietnam and Laos, which began during the second half of the 1980s and gained momentum following the resolution of the Cambodian conflict in 1991. The first half of the 1990s was characterised by the gradual acceptance by other Southeast Asian countries of ASEAN's code of conduct for inter-state interaction. This paved the way for the accession to full membership in ASEAN of Vietnam in 1995, of Laos and Burma in 1997 and of Cambodia in late 1998. Given the considerable discrepancy in the level of economic development between the new and old members of ASEAN, the economic motivation for expanding ASEAN would be to facilitate foreign investment in the new members and open new markets for exports within an expanded ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). The article argues, however, that the political and security considerations are more important in explaining why the original members embarked on the process aimed at bringing all 10 Southeast Asian countries into ASEAN. It is in this context that the policy of constructive engagement and peaceful management of inter-state conflicts comes into play.     

解析日本的东亚外交——从鸠山到菅直人的东亚合作政策

本文阐述日本民主党执政后的东亚外交及其变化,从日本与中韩、日本与东盟、日本与湄公河地区5国、日本与越南的关系等角度,分析鸠山和菅直人两届政府的关于东亚合作的设想及其实施结果,考察其东亚外交在东北亚和东南亚地区的不同表现,及其对中日关系的影响。     

From Konfrontasi to Disintegrasi : ASEAN and the Rise of Islamism in Southeast Asia

This article evaluates the development of militant Islamic threats in Southeast Asia from the early 1990s onwards and its security implications for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The analysis contends that the extent of extremist Islamic infiltration of the region was obscured by governmental rhetoric, along with much Western opinion, which argued erroneously that ASEAN was following a unique developmental path based on shared regional values that had resulted in economic growth and political stability. However, by ignoring underlying religiously motivated tensions within and among its membership, and by refusing to countenance mature debate about them within their societies, ASEAN has succeeded only in incubating its potential nemesis.     

The family state: a non-realist approach to understanding Indonesia’s foreign policy

ABSTRACT

The existing literature on Indonesia’s foreign policy has excluded the state from the category of an agent which shapes the country’s external affairs. This trend certainly ignores the notion that foreign policy is a unique state activity taking place in the interface between domestic and international politics. To fill the gap, this article explores the idea about the family state and looks at its influence on the conduct of Indonesia’s international relations. The argument is that the family state pursues order in international society in which sovereignty can be maintained. Indonesia plays the role of an order-maker in Southeast Asia through the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The order-oriented actions are displayed by Jakarta’s diplomacy to resolve border disputes with neighbouring countries in the region.     

In Search of Regional Governance in East Asia: Processes and Outcomes

Abstract

This article employs the concept of ‘regional governance’ to analyze both the processes and outcomes of the emerging regional institutional arrangements in East Asia. It argues that while ASEAN has played a significant role in creating and sustaining the ‘processes’ of wider East Asian regional governance efforts, the level of achievement in translating these processes into tangible ‘outcomes’ remains severely constrained by great power rivalry, especially between Japan and China. By focusing on the areas of trade and finance, this article argues that the varying levels of outcomes between these two issue areas can be explained primarily by the degree of convergence between Japanese and Chinese interests. In particular, while Japan and China have a shared interest in contributing to the promotion of regional financial stability, they strongly disagree over the appropriate form and contours of a trade governance system.     

ASEAN Initiatives to combat Haze pollution: An assessment of regional cooperation in public policy‐making

Over the last 25 years, Southeast Asia had been affected by significant smoke pollution (commonly referred to as the haze), which has mainly emanated from the widespread burning of forests and scrubs by smallholders and plantation operators within Indonesia. The haze has seriously affected air quality in the neighbouring countries. The article will consider the concerted efforts of the states of ASEAN to deal jointly with the problem, through various initiatives culminating in the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution of 2002. The article will then assess the design and impact of these initiatives, and will argue that their success will depend particularly on the standards of governance and administration in Indonesia.     

亚太战略视域下的美国—东盟关系考察

由于东盟地区在地缘、政治、反恐、经济等方面的突出作用,奥巴马履新以来,主动接近并大力发展与东盟国家间关系,美国"重返东南亚"的战略态势渐趋明朗。然而较长时期内,东盟在美国亚太战略中的地位仍将主要让位于中国、东北亚、日本、印度、阿富汗等关键国家和地域,这从很大程度上决定了美国与东盟关系深入发展的限度。东盟唯有自身行动机能和决断能力的实质性增强,才能赢得美国持久根本的战略关注高度。     

东亚地区主义发展路径的基本特征:政府主导与过程中展开

东亚地区主义发展路径呈现出不同于已有地区主义发展路径的特征,东亚地区合作仍然局限在政府间的双边对话、谈判与合作,东亚各国政府是机制建设和合作议题的倡导者、决策者和核心推动者。而在实际操作中,东亚地区合作通常由领导人会议高层驱动,制定统一的合作框架,进而各国部长及高官会议推动合作框架的具体实施。东亚地区主义是一个进程,没有明确的议程和目标。东亚将在未来一个较长的时期内,主要还将是继续致力于现实利益基础上的务实合作。     

From the ASEAN People's Assembly to the ASEAN Civil Society Conference: the boundaries of civil society advocacy

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have asserted their claim for participation in regional governance in Southeast Asia through multiple forums held since the late-1990s. The two most enduring are the ASEAN People's Assembly (APA), organised by ASEAN-ISIS and held seven times from 2000 to 2009, and the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC), organised by the Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy network and held nine times from 2005 to the present. Through comparative analysis of the boundaries of CSO participation in these two events, this article explains why the APA was superseded by the ACSC, and it highlights states' growing intrusions into the ACSC. It argues that states' expanding repertoire of tactics to direct the ACSC has seen the structure of CSO participation in this event recast, challenging the view of the ACSC as an independent space for advocacy and indicating the hollowness of ASEAN's commitments to creating a ‘people-oriented’ Association.     

ASEAN’s governance of migrant worker rights

Temporary migrant workers in Southeast Asia are subject to various abuses in recruitment, work and repatriation. A decade ago ASEAN governments committed to developing an Instrument governing migrant worker rights, but a series of deadlocks have stymied this agreement. Prevailing accounts explain this impasse as the consequence of incompatible national interests, norms of non-interference and consensus, a lack of institutional capacity and the limits of rights advocacy in ASEAN. Conversely, utilising a political economy framework, this article demonstrates this impasse in regional governance reflects societal-level conflicts among migrant workers, civil society organisations, business groups and state-based actors, generated by the latter’s adoption of migrant labour as both a livelihood and development strategy.     

Environmental advocacy: insights from East Asia

Environmental advocacy in East Asia takes place in a context where there are few well-funded professional advocacy organizations, no viable green parties, and governments that are highly pro-business. In this advocacy-hostile environment, what strategies are environmental organizations using to promote better environmental outcomes? Using an original database of environmental organizations and interviews with activists and officials throughout the region, this paper investigates which strategies are most common, and compares them to the advocacy strategies found in the United States. It finds, perhaps surprisingly, that (a) environmental organizations across East Asia employ similar advocacy strategies, even though they are operating in very different political conditions, and (b) the strategies most favoured in East Asia are also the strategies most often utilized in the United States. It then argues that new theories of advocacy should be developed to pay closer attention to certain actors (academics and artists), and particular processes (organizational networking, government collaboration, and culture-making), that appear to play important roles in advocacy in countries around the world, irrespective of political context.     

Leadership in ASEAN: The Role of Indonesia Reconsidered

This paper examines the complexity and multidimensional features of leadership and provides understanding of leadership in ASEAN integration. It highlights the significant roles of leadership in the integrating Southeast Asia and contradicts its common belief of invisible leadership. It highlights the role and the importance of Indonesia in the development of ASEAN as a main factor that can determine ASEAN's survival and success. Moreover, it insists that ASEAN is literally subject to structural powers, derived from material and resource capacity, in which leadership is highly attached to a leader's charisma. Finally, the paper proposes that the benevolent roles of Indonesia with strong emphasis on soft power are a key element of success.     

Interpretations of Eurasianism: Justifying Russia's role in East Asia

This article examines the concept of Eurasianism in relation to Russia's East Asian policy from Yeltsin to Putin. It argues that there are three main interpretations of Russia's Eurasianist identity in the foreign policy discourse regarding East Asia: Pragmatic Eurasianism, Neo-Eurasianism, and Intercivilisational Eurasianism. Each interpretation emphasises a different aspect of Eurasianism with different policy implications. However, they all share an instrumentalist nature, of being used to justify Russia's Great Power status and a greater role for it in East Asia. Moreover, it is the pragmatic and geoeconomic aspects of Russia's Eurasianist identity that are being stressed most by the Putin administration, especially on energy and transport links.     

ASEAN At 50: the global political economy’s contribution to durability

Why has the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) proved so durable as a regional organisation given the many challenges it has faced since its inception in 1967? This analysis makes use of an historical institutionalist approach. It shows how the global political economy, through the injection of aid and investment and the development of production networks and increased trade, generated a generally positive regional economic environment that encouraged cooperation. It also provided the resources for the gradual institutionalisation of ASEAN and the expansion of its reach through the establishment of associated regional organisations. The result was that these factors, in combination, contributed to ASEAN’s staying power.     

The role of ASEAN institutes of strategic and international studies in developing security cooperation in the Asia‐pacific region

As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) governments are facing new challenges, the need to re‐evaluate the significance of the track‐two activities has been recognised. As there has been insufficient research on the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), this article analyses their role in the development of security cooperation. It shows that ASEAN‐ISIS has contributed to the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) by analysing the common/cooperative security thinking, the establishment of an inter‐governmental forum for a security dialogue, and the extension of ASEAN's diplomatic style over a larger geographical area. As ASEAN‐ISIS has contributed to inter‐governmental cooperation by promoting ideas, this article concludes that the significance of their activities in contemporary Asian politics should be understood in terms of the introduction and promotion of such innovative ideas.     

East Asian financial regionalism: why economic enhancements undermine political sustainability

East Asian financial regionalism was born in response to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997–1998. The centrepiece of financial regionalism was the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), an emergency liquidity mechanism created by the ASEAN+3. It embodied both a clear interpretation of what had gone wrong in 1997–1998 and an understanding of the need for institutions that would be politically viable despite Sino-Japanese rivalry. Enforcement under CMI relied on the ‘IMF link’ – release of funds would be predicated on crisis countries' initiating negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a means of reducing moral hazard, enforcing conditionality and diverting blame from the leading creditors, Japan and China. The global financial crisis of 2008–2010 and the eurozone crisis that followed have inspired important changes meant to address CMI's economic gaps, including accelerated adoption of ‘CMI Multilateralization’ (CMIM), the creation of a new surveillance unit (ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Organization, or AMRO), and the establishment of a new precautionary line. Many observers have remarked that these developments weaken the IMF link, which had effectively subordinated CMI to the IMF. While the moves appear to demonstrate a more confident, autonomous regionalism and a relative devaluation of the US-dominated global financial institutions, this paper argues that in fact, the ASEAN+3 states have again unearthed the underlying politics of divided leadership and mutual suspicion. CMIM is now threatened by the renewed potential for internal divisions. Further complicating the picture, both China and Japan have recently established large bilateral swap lines outside of the CMIM framework with several of their ASEAN+3 partners, raising the question of whether CMIM is moving towards political irrelevance even as it has arrived at a high water mark in its institutional development.     

东亚秩序重组的特点及其挑战

2010年中国在东亚进入了战略挑战期。2011年挑战深化,形势严峻,其主要标志是美国宣布东亚是美国的战略重点,并在东亚发起了全面攻势和破坏性介入。东亚局势极速变化,秩序重组呈现四大特点:经济特性、权力特性、海洋特性和军事特性。中国只有充分认识东亚秩序演变的新特点、新挑战,调整思维,增强实力,优化战略,真正把战略重点放在东亚,主动创造战略机遇,加大战略运筹力度,强化地区塑造能力,主导机制化进程,解决以中国为核心的经济体系与以美国为核心的安全体系二元分离的倾向,才能推动地区秩序朝着有利于中国的方向发展。     

Southeast Asian industrialisation and the changing global production system

The diversion of foreign direct investment ( fdi ) flows into developing Asia, from Southeast Asia to China, has renewed doubts about whether Southeast Asia's traditional reliance on fdi has left the region without the local capabilities required to sustain the region's long-term competitiveness. Southeast Asia's industrialisation has involved deepening integration into international production networks, comprising internal exchanges between multinational corporations ( mnc s) and their subsidiaries, affiliates and subcontractors. While indigenous industry has been secondary to Southeast Asian industrialisation, this paper highlights three elements of local technological accumulation and clustering within foreign-dominated export industries: production deepening, co-location of design, engineering and R&D with off-shore manufacturing, and the spatial clustering of mnc s in particular industry segments. Southeast Asian governments have responded to these trends by broadening investment promotion from manufacturing to business services and regional headquarters operations, by targeting incentives and infrastructure development to foster industrial clusters, and by invigorating technical support programmes for local small and medium-sized enterprises ( sme s) in supporting industries. Taken together, these trends suggest that Southeast Asia will remain an important site within multinationals' international production networks.