Rethinking ASEAN in Light of the South China Sea Tensions

Introduction to the Special Forum

ASEAN is an organization that symbolizes regionalism, collective action for the management of great power relations, and harmonious handling of civilizational and economic differences. It reached its pinnacle in the late 1990s and 2000s. Now it is struggling to play the expected, outsize role in all of these dimensions. In conditions of increased Chinese assertiveness and pushback from the United ..

Editorial Staff

July 31,2015

The Impact of South China Sea (SCS) Tensions on ASEAN: An “Eye-of-the-Beholder” Dilemma

An evaluation of the impact of SCS disputes on ASEAN at this critical juncture in its evolution depends, fundamentally, upon what one thinks ASEAN is all about. Individual ASEAN member-states adopted a charter in 2008 that lays out the organization’s formal objectives. A centerpiece is that ASEAN will become a single economic and political-security community. But leading experts still disagree o..

Satu Limaye

ASEAN unity , Regionalism , South China Sea

July 31,2015

ASEAN’s Failing Grade in the South China Sea

Since around 2008, a worrying disconnect has been readily apparent in the South China Sea. On the one hand, competing claims to ownership of disputed atolls and their adjacent maritime space has led to growing discord between China and several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, and propelled the problem to the top of Southeast Asia’s security agenda. In the past..

Ian Storey

ASEAN unity , code of conduct , Regionalism , Spratly Islands , UNCLOS

July 31,2015

The US-China-Japan Triangle and the Concept of “ASEAN Centrality”: Myth or Reality?

ASEAN watchers may have heard of the adage, “when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled; and when they make love, the grass suffers as well.” The first part of the adage is said to be an old Swahili proverb, whereas the latter half is an adept appendix by Lee Kuan Yew. The former shows the grievances of the weak vis-à-vis the bullying forces, whereas the latter represents t..

Kuroyanagi Yoneji*

ADIZ , China threat , National security , Regionalism , US-China-Japan triangle

July 31,2015

Malaysia’s “Special Relationship” with China and the South China Sea: Not So Special Anymore

MMEA Bombardier 415 Surveillance Flight over South Luconia Shoal, where Chinese Coast Guard Ships are reported to have established a permanent presence. June 2015 (Facebook) On June 2, 2015, Minister Shahidan bin Kassim held a press conference to announce an “intrusion” by a foreign vessel in the South Luconia Shoals (Beting Patinggi Ali, in Malay). A picture of the vessel, China Coast Guar..

Scott Bentley

Malaysia , Reclamation , Regionalism , South Luconia Shoals , UNCLOS

July 31,2015

The South China Sea Disputes: Some Blindspots and Misperceptions

The South China Sea disputes have in recent years emerged as, arguably, the most contentious issue on the security agenda in Southeast Asia. Fueled by heated rhetoric, mutual distrust, perceptions and misperceptions, and nationalism, it has become the most extensively discussed subject in the literature on security challenges in Southeast Asia, with experts expressing different, often contending v..

Liow Joseph Chinyong*

EEZ , intra-ASEAN disputes , Regionalism , UNCLOS , US security