The ASEANization of Regional Order in East Asia: A Failed Endeavor?

In: Asian perspective, Band 22, Heft 3, S. 7-47

Abstract

Abstract: This article explores the extent to which the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has succeeded in winning assent for its proposed principles and norms for interstate conduct, and recognition as an equal pole in an emerging regional order. The basic argument is that notwithstanding substantial evidence of ASEAN's central role in key regional institutions and parallels between the ASEAN experience and those of other multilateral regional organizations, one cannot assume the ASEANization of East Asia's regional order to be entrenched or irreversible. To demonstrate this, the article examines the challenges to the ASEANization of regional order in the security realm as posed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States. Beijing has largely responded positively to ASEAN's policy of engagement as regards confidence-building measures, but has been ambiguous about the extent to which it adheres to ASEAN's normative framework in the pursuit of Chinese policy objectives in the South China Sea. By contrast, Washington squarely challenges the ASEAN framework. Concerning ASEAN's struggle for recognition, neither China nor the United States appears prepared to accept ASEAN's centrality or even equality in other than formal terms in the future regional security architecture, since such status runs counter to the two powers' own identity claims and security interests.