Archive - ASEAN at 50

“The old solutions are not working anymore.” - Mahathir

“There are now very strong moves for members of ASEAN to get out of so called ASEAN way" - FVR

ASEAN is missing out on achieving real economic integration if it does not recognize and allow more labor mobility ­– including for unskilled ones that make up the most of its migrants.

The Philippines’ chairing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the regional organization’s 50th anniversary received a rude shock when Malaysia dissociated itself from a statement on the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, issued by Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

The meeting is a simulation. Yet, it has already taught the participants one important lesson: the idea of consensus, and how difficult it can be to reach, in the trademark decision-making process of ASEAN.

BANGKOK – Laos and Cambodia are often seen as little more than political twins who have chosen to reap economic benefits from China in exchange for their loyalty to the Middle Kingdom – and choosing this alliance over keeping consensus with their ASEAN family.

NINGBO, China - It is disturbingly obvious that the ASEAN states do not – and will not – possess the same enormous politico-economic clout that China has to be able to accommodate the West while at the same time strive to reshape a world order dominated by Western hegemony.

Countries participating in a mammoth Asean-led regional free trade agreement are making a fresh pitch to salvage the deal with new proposals on the level of trade they are willing to liberalize.

Regional trade ministers are finalizing the key elements of a mammoth free trade deal that the Philippines is working to substantially conclude this year.

Within 50 years of existence, ASEAN has made progress on environmental policies – at least on paper.

After reading the Joint Communique of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, together with other documents and accounts of meetings, three narratives come to mind.

Timeline of key events dating back to 1992, when the goal of having a COC in the South China Sea was first set.