Formal frameworks, informal practices: how ASEAN navigates the crisis in multilateralism

This article examines how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has drawn on its blend of formal frameworks and informal practices to navigate the fragmentation in regional multilateralism. It identifies the crisis in ASEAN multilateralism along three key dimensions: the limitations of ASEAN’s convening power and normative influence; its ineffectiveness and inefficiencies in managing regional security issues; and, the rise of non-ASEAN-led platforms for cooperation. The article argues that ASEAN has adopted formal frameworks in responding to the challenges facing ASEAN multilateralism, yet the practices shaping these frameworks remain grounded in informality. The analysis employs a framework that reframes the distinction between formality and informality in intergovernmental organisations, based on the motivations underpinning each approach. Applying this framework to ASEAN’s approaches to the Myanmar coup in February 2021 and the rise of the Indo-Pacific narrative since the late 2010s – both of which are reflective of the crisis in ASEAN multilateralism – the article illustrates how the regional organisation harnesses this paradoxical combination of formality and informality to navigate a challenging multilateral landscape.