ASEAN and the Great Powers

For more than five decades since the creation of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a regional organization in Southeast Asia, it has essentially contributed a lot in the development and shaping of regional interactions within it as well as with the Great Powers which includes United States, the Soviet Union and China. ASEAN’s diplomacy which has formed the regional norms and practices relatively halt the aggressive behavior of Great Powers towards it. However, due to political and economic issues along with the influence of intensifying Sino-American competition the decades-long integration of ASEAN is now in stake.

It was realized by ASEAN’s founders that division and discord threaten the regional sovereignty by the intervention of foreign powers. Amid the threat posed by the Chinese-backed communists and the crisis of United States’ war with Vietnam, the association re-evaluate their interests and tend to refocus their attention to each’s domestic problems rather than external intrusions. Another reason of better cohesion of ASEAN members is to prevent future proliferation in the association due to Ango-American disengagement; which on the other hand resulted in the collective declaration of Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOFRAN) in 1971. This pledge to achieve recognition and respect for Southeast Asia as a zone “free from any form or manner of interference by outside Powers” as well as strengthening regional solidarity and cooperation.

In 1976, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation was the next major legal step of the association with an objective of institutionalizing basic rules for international relations in Southeast Asia, for instance; respect for national independence, sovereignty and territorial independence which at the same time pressuring the Great Powers into a normative framework.

Eventually, a problem occurred which suddenly made the ASEAN members in a dilemma on how to deal with it. The 1980 Kuantan Declaration was made to signify the strict implementation of the ZOFRAN principle in response to the increasing tension in the region which was caused by China’s involvement in the Cambodia’s invasion of Vietnam. In 1984, ASEAN welcomed Brunei as the sixth member of the association which shows a productive political action even against the superpowers. However, they aren’t strong enough to balance external influence in Southeast Asia.

United States’ involvement in the region was even more legally intensified after China’s claiming of almost entire South China Sea. In 1992, ASEAN issued the Singapore Declaration that aims to enhance cooperative relationship with the US, Japan and other US allies, but not China.

ASEAN’s objective to be more engaged and integrated came up to the plan to build regional institutions which at the same time gave control to the superpowers’ political and economic goals to the region. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) provided an opportunity to the association to exercise authorship and earn central position in the regional institutions which relatively controls the Great Power’s influence lowering the reliability on them which was later justified after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Unexpectedly, China, Japan and South Korea became the crucial economic partners of ASEAN, also called ASEAN+3, while its relation to US went worse during the US-led “war on terror”. Nevertheless, overtime, the association is facing challenges specifically when Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia gained accession. Economically, strategically and ideationally, ASEAN’s collective external orientation blurred.

In the early 21 stcentury, Great Powers’ recognition of ASEAN became more valuable and respected. The 2002 ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement happened to be the sprout of strong economic relationship between ASEAN+3 which was expanded including India, Australia and New Zealand. Obama’s administration had a strategic role in the region as they co-launched as annual summit with ASEAN.

Despite of the seemingly developing image of ASEAN as a recognized regional association, contemporary issues of peace and independence in the region can’t be denied whereas China moving towards expansionism -de facto annexation- in the South China Sea which violates the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration. However, ASEAN can’t stand against China’s aggressive actions since some pro-China members casts veto. This was the start of an overtime fissure within the association and was thoroughly deepened in 2016 by the report that China did “consensus” in favor of China. Until today, members’ solidarity became more questionable on how to deal with China which exposing them of being vulnerable from external powers.

Originally published at http://islamicpoliticskabs.wordpress.com on May 29, 2020.