Is ASEAN a defunct Group?
Is ASEAN a defunct Group?
Introduction
ASEAN ( The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) was established on August 8th, 1967. It was founded in Bangkok, Thailand with the aim of promoting economic and social collaborations between member nations. The member states of ASEAN are now plagued with red tapism and no successful progress has been made on key issues so far. ASEAN is well on its way to becoming a defunct group.
Viewpoint
• Other countries have criticized ASEA nations for being too soft in their attitude towards the promotion of human rights and democracy. When the junta in Myanmar issued a crackdown against people, it sparked a global outrage. However, ASEAN refused to take any concrete action against Myanmar. They also refused to suspend this nation from this list of members. ASEAN even went to the extent of rejecting the suggestion for economic sanctions against Myanmar. The protection of human rights is the most important agenda of any organization that wants to uphold the interests of democracy and social welfare. ASEAN was very wrong in its approach to this crisis and they send an incorrect message to other member countries and leading non-member states regarding acceptable governance and conduct.
• ASEAN has still not been able to promote good understanding between India and Pakistan or resolve Indo-China border disputes. There are many grey areas where this organization has not been able to take significant steps. Economic recovery following the recession is also a big issue. ASEAN has not been able to come up with concrete solutions for inflation and slowdown in economic growth confronting some of its key member nations.
• ASEAN was formed with noble goals in mind. It was established to ensure that the member nations were able to sustain economic growth and social progress. Many of the countries belonging to this group are now not able to meet this criterion. Questionable human rights record of some of the member nations is only the tip of the iceberg.
• Intra-ASEAN trade is also not very voluminous. Member states have been exporting goods to non-member nations chiefly. Only some nations in the group provide trade benefits to member states.
• ASEAN was formed to promote collaborations in economic, social, cultural, scientific, cultural and administrative fields. Yet this has not become a reality. ASEAN has not been able to promote technology transfer and knowledge networks and linkages between its member states beyond a certain limited extent.
Conclusion
ASEAN is now becoming defunct. Hidden agendas and strategic interests in world politics are now dictating foreign policy and there is an atmosphere of unrest. Recent events such as the Ukraine-Crimea issue are dividing the world along certain lines. International cooperation is now at its lowest ebb as security concerns are prompting world leaders to be cautious and insecure. ASEAN could play a pivotal role in re-establishing an atmosphere of trust and comity between nations. Whether it will accomplish this important objective remains to be seen.
Discussion
- RE: Is ASEAN a defunct Group? -Farhana Afreen (04/02/14)
Is ASEAN a defunct Group?
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN as we generally call it is a political and economic organization of ten countries of Southeast Asia. On 8 August 1967 ASEAN was formed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and later Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam was included. The main motive behind the formation of this association was to boost economic growth, social development, and cultural appreciation among its members. They also owed to safeguard regional peace and steadiness creating a common platform where member nations could sit together and discuss upon a conflict.
The question of ASEAN being only a defunct group in present time is indeed a conflicting topic with differentiated views. Let’s first analyze the provincial power of ASEAN:
1. ASEAN group covers a land area of 4.46 million km², which is 3% of the total land area of Earth.
2. The total population of ASEAN is about 600 million people, which is 8.8% of the world's population.
3. The sea area of ASEAN is about three times larger than its land counterpart.
4. By 2012, its combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US$ 2.3 trillion.
5. If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the eighth largest economy in the world.
A group with such provincial power could undoubtedly be a very powerful body that could together function to solve greater issues without any external interference. However, this is only possible if the member nations sit together and discuss their issues earnestly. Nations have their own confidentiality and prefer keeping their issues to themselves. This obviously does not make the group defunct.
The main incentive for the birth of ASEAN were to keep the government of the member nations at their best and focus on nation building, to eradicate the fear of communism, reduced faith in or mistrust of external powers, and an aspiration for economic development of the nations. Most of these points are no more discussed in the ASEAN summits but there are other issues that they have together taken up.
The currently focused matter is of climate change and preservation of natural resources. ASEAN has started discussing environmental agreements. ASEAN Agreements were signed were signed for this purpose. Transboundary Haze Pollution was signed in 2002 as an attempt to control haze pollution in Southeast Asia. Other environmental treaties initiated by the organisation include the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network in 2005, and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. All of these treaties are meant to tackle budding effects of climate change.
The Bali Concord II in 2003 was signed by ASEAN as an agreement to the conception of democratic peace, which ensures all member countries to believe democratic processes will promote regional peace and stability. Even the non-democratic members agreed that this was an effective measure taken by ASEAN and that it is an inspiration to the rest of the nations.
In November 2007 the ASEAN countries signed the ASEAN Charter, a constitution governing relations among the ASEAN members and establishing ASEAN itself as an international legal body. The same year, ASEAN and the other members of the EAS (Australia, People's Republic of China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea) signed the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security, which focuses on energy conservation by finding energy substitutes to conventional fuels.
In August 2007, ASEAN declared that it has plans to comprehend all its free trade agreements with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand by 2013, aligned with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.
All of these lead towards the conclusion that the ASEAN hold a significant place in the development of the member nations and towards maintaining peace amongst the nations.
