00:00Geopolitical tensions, major power competition and regional conflicts are testing ASEAN's unity and effectiveness like never before.
00:08Now, these issues took centre stage at the 39th Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur,
00:13hosted by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, or ISIS Malaysia.
00:19Our correspondent, Farhana Sheh, speaks to Shangri-La Dialog Senior Fellow, Dr. Evan Laxmana,
00:24about ASEAN's ability to respond to today's challenges and whether the grouping's existing mechanisms are still fit for purpose.
00:33The ASEAN Charter has never been reviewed and assessed despite the fact that it actually allows itself to be reviewed.
00:40What has happened so far is a review of ASEAN institutions that came out of the Charter.
00:46It's never the Charter itself that's under revision.
00:49For example, how do you elect the ASEAN Secretary General?
00:52What role does the ASEAN Secretary General play?
00:54Is there a role for non-consensus decision-making?
00:58These are all things that are at the heart of ASEAN as a grouping,
01:02in which right now it is still very much the prerogative of ASEAN leaders to revise or to accept as
01:09it is.
01:10So the challenge for me is whether or not the individual ASEAN leaders are willing to lead ASEAN to achieve
01:22strategic outcomes
01:23and not just to sustain the existing processes and mechanisms that we all know.
01:28The problem is, of course, there's conflation between chairship, that's annual and rotational, and leadership.
01:36What is often the case is chairship is the focus.
01:40Every year, some countries will become chair, and so therefore, the focus is or the onus of responsibilities on the
01:48chair.
01:49But in fact, I think ASEAN leadership should still be visible regardless of whether or not that country is chair
01:56of ASEAN.
01:57And this is what I think has been missing.
02:00Dr. Laxmana says ASEAN has long been effective in building regional norms,
02:05but institutional reforms are necessary if the bloc is to produce more meaningful strategic outcomes.
02:11Accepting that ASEAN is perhaps good for long-term norms exercise, for convening,
02:19for building a sense of familiarity, for identifying gaps in existing arrangements, these are all great things.
02:27But that in itself is never sufficient for some of the economic, political, or security outcomes
02:35that matter for individual states or for the region.
02:38And I think the bigger question, which is a bit harder to answer,
02:42is whether or not ASEAN can define what is a shared regional interest.
02:47So for a long time during the Cold War, ASEAN helped define what is a shared regional interest.
02:51And shared regional interest may have a little bit of things that are not your individual domestic national interest.
02:59But if it's good for the region, it's good for you.
03:01The question now I think is the opposite, right?
03:03Which is, can you afford to have a shared regional interest?
03:07That potentially undermines a little bit, perhaps, your own individual national interest.
03:13So for example, is it not a shared regional interest to resolve in a sustainable way the issues in Myanmar?
03:22But is it worth your while if it doesn't directly affect your domestic, individual, national interest?
03:29With more discussions ahead, delegates are expected to explore how ASEAN and the wider Asia-Pacific
03:34can strengthen regional cooperation amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.
03:39Stay tuned for more updates from the 39th Asia-Pacific Roundtable.
03:42I'm Fahna Sheh reporting for Awani International.
Comments