In global politics, the diagnostic frame used to interpret power shifts often dictates the response. During a recent small-group clinical colloquium in Manila, the discussion shifted from research breakthroughs to the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. To observers, the US operation resembled a swift, invasive appendectomy that left the regional...
Tag: Association of Southeast Asian Nations
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The illusion of Asean’s economic integration
Since its establishment in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has gone through several phases in its bid for regional integration. From the 1992 Asean Free Trade Area, the 2002 Asean Economic Community, and finally the 2007 Asean Charter provision of three guiding pillars foremost of which was the Asean Economic Community, a...
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The delusional promises of the Asean 2045 Roadmap
At the 46th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) last May, leaders adopted what appears to be a landmark document, the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2045: Our Shared Future. The declaration sets a 20-year roadmap to transform Asean into “a resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centered community.” It further emphasizes “regional solidarity,...
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A new path for Southeast Asian civil society engagement with Asean
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) marks its 56th year in 2023 and holds its 43rd summit of leaders in September in Jakarta, the second such meeting of the year. Asean is guided by these principles drawn up in 1976: mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all...