13 September 2012
WP249 | ASEAN’s Centrality in a Rising Asia
Abstract
Much has been made over the last decade on the rise of Asia and the continent’s increasingly important role in global politics. As a ten-member political community, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents a significant presence within Asia and is viewed by many as a successful experiment in regional conflict regulation and cooperation. Over the years, the region has featured in the policy-making discourse of the big powers, in particular from the United States and China with increasing regularity. Paralleling the prominence that ASEAN receives from the big powers is the growing emphasis among its own members on “ASEAN centrality” – the notion of an ASEAN-led regional architecture in which the region’s relations with the wider world are conducted with the interest of the ASEAN community in mind. This article will thus explore the concept of “ASEAN centrality” and the extent to which this concept is being understood and appropriated in ASEAN’s dealings with both Washington and Beijing.
Abstract
Much has been made over the last decade on the rise of Asia and the continent’s increasingly important role in global politics. As a ten-member political community, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents a significant presence within Asia and is viewed by many as a successful experiment in regional conflict regulation and cooperation. Over the years, the region has featured in the policy-making discourse of the big powers, in particular from the United States and China with increasing regularity. Paralleling the prominence that ASEAN receives from the big powers is the growing emphasis among its own members on “ASEAN centrality” – the notion of an ASEAN-led regional architecture in which the region’s relations with the wider world are conducted with the interest of the ASEAN community in mind. This article will thus explore the concept of “ASEAN centrality” and the extent to which this concept is being understood and appropriated in ASEAN’s dealings with both Washington and Beijing.
