ASEAN at 40: Prospects for Community Building in Southeast Asia

In 2007, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations attempted to celebrate its 40th founding anniversary with a bang as it was about to set another milestone, which is the signing of the ASEAN Charter. However, the celebration was overshadowed by the political crisis in Myanmar following the military's crackdown on protesting monks and their democratic supporters. The inability of ASEAN to influence events in that country became the focus of public attention in the region and the international community. Even the much-vaunted milestone of finally having an ASEAN Charter was a major disappointment for many in Southeast Asia as the final document signed by ASEAN leaders was everything but bold, forward-looking, and transformative. It became an object of criticism mainly by some think tanks and civil society groups in the region because it paled in comparison to the recommendations of the Eminent Persons Group that drafted the blueprint of what the ASEAN Charter should look like. This article describes the major milestones and turning points of ASEAN's regionalism project over the last forty years. It also attempts to identify the major issues and challenges to ASEAN's community building efforts in the future. The main argument of this article is that ASEAN's continuing relevance to the people of the region can be ensured only if it seriously opens up to greater participatory regionalism. Only then can ASEAN be transformed into a truly people-centered organization. Notes 1 "Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II)," from http://www.aseansec.org/15159.htm, accessed 14 February 2008. 2 ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action, from http://www.aseansec.org/16826.htm, accessed on 14 February 2008. 3 ASEAN Secretariat, Towards an ASEAN Community, Public Information Series. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat, 2003, p. 5. 4 Ibid. 5 A major part of this section of the article is adopted from the author's paper titled "Regionalism and Community Building in East Asia: Do Non-Government Actors Matter?", submitted at the Second Sentosa Roundtable, 17–18 January 2008, Singapore. 6 Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN, "Analysis of the ASEAN Charter," 19 November 2007, from Focus on the Global South, http://www.focusweb.org/analysis-of-the-asean-charter.html?Itemid = 145, accessed on 7 January 2008. 7 Alexander C. Chandra and Rafendi Djamin, "ASEAN people's 'charter' to advance civil society," Jakarta Post, 19 November 2007, from http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid = 20071119.E02, accessed on 7 January 2008. 8 Ibid. 9 Jusuf Wanandi, "Outlook for RI, ASEAN, and East Asia in 2008," Jakarta Post, 3 January 2008, from http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid = 20080103.T11, accessed on 7 January 2008. 10 There are many dimensions of this development divide among ASEAN members, which include income, infrastructure, integration, and institutional gaps. See Bui Truong Giang and Vo Tri Thanh, "Approach to Development Gaps in ASEAN: A Vietnamese Perspective," ASEAN Economic Bulletin (AEB) Vol. 24, No. 1 (2007). 11 David Jay Green, "Bridging the ASEAN Development Divide," AEB, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2007), p. 17 12 Ibid, p. 20 13 Dionisius A. Narjoko and Puspa Delima Amri, "The Development Gap between ASEAN Member Countries," AEB, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2007), p. 65 14 Ibid, p. 67 15 David Denis and Zainal Azman Jusof, Developing Indicators of ASEAN Integration – A Preliminary Survey of Roadmap, REPSF Project 02/001, Final Report (August 2003), p. 4. Downloaded from http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pubout.cfm?ID = 3082_6586_6994_2657_9229, accessed on 15 February 2008. 16 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), Ten as One: Challenges & Opportunities for ASEAN Integration. Bangkok: ESCAP, 2007, p. 2. 17 David Denis and Zainal Azman Jusof, ibid, p. 7 18 UN-ESCAP, Ten as One, ibid. 19 Jenny D. Balboa, Erlinda M. Medalla, and Josef T. Yap, "Closer Trade and Financial Cooperation in ASEAN: Issues at the Regional and National Levels with Focus on the Philippines," AEB, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2007), p. 126. 20 David Denis and Zainal Azman Jusof, ibid, p. 6. 21 Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay and Mossimo Mastruzzi. Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators 1996-2002, from http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpma/0308006.html, accessed on 15 February 2008.