In Asean as elsewhere, foreign policy derives and evolves from perceived
national interest and expectations abroad.
ASEAN’S 45th birthday came and
went last month as its other birthdays before, illustrating its character for
better and for worse.
Its leaders looked forward to
Asean’s future with anticipation rather than looked backward to its
achievements, however much they knew Asean’s successes had been underrated by
some.
Critics from outside South-East
Asia tend to ignore or deny Asean’s strengths and achievements, reflecting
their inability or unwillingness to understand its origins and purpose. So they
belittle Asean for failing to do what it was never intended or designed to do.
Asean has variously been accused
of not preventing Cambodia’s 1970s debacle, the 1990s Asian financial crisis
and Myanmar’s pre-reform imbroglio, among other ills. That is like accusing the
EEC, the EC and then the EU of failing to prevent the Cold War in Europe,
atrocities in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the Greek financial meltdown.
Actually Europe is more culpable
than South-East Asia, since besides the EU there are other organisations like
the European Council and the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe). There are no equivalent organisations besides Asean for South-East
Asia.
Asean could probably have done
better in some specific instances, and a lot better in projecting its image and
record. But the latter was never its purpose any more than regional diplomatic
engagement or security management.
While historical friction between
Germany and France sparked today’s European Union, dynamic tension between
Indonesia (Sukarno’s konfrontasi and sentiments to that effect) and Malaysia
fostered Asean. The organisation has since been buoyed by occasional
intra-regional tension, from lingering territorial disputes to upheaval in
Indochina, enough to underscore its continuing importance but short of
undermining it.
Meanwhile, the incipient
community that was struggling to find expression in Asean was about to be born.
Since Western colonialism undercut indigenous nation-building then skewed its
trajectory, a post-colonial South-East Asia strained to return to a sense of
regional community with chequered results.
Different colonial masters and
their orientations, and differing levels of development, came to distinguish
the 10 countries of South-East Asia. The challenge remains making the best of
such diversity without being riven by any disparity.
In the region’s immediate
pre-Asean phase, some regionalist efforts that underestimated sovereign
nationhood failed. The neo-colonial, Western-oriented Seato (South-East Asia
Treaty Organisation), the stealthily anti-Malaysia Maphilindo
(Malaya-Philippines-Indonesia), and the limited three-nation Asa (Association
of South-East Asia) faded.
For sufficient heft, five nations
then came together in 1967 to form Asean. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand moreover had unresolved bilateral issues among
themselves that necessitated it.
Over the decades, Singapore
seemed tempted to drift away with its own free trade agreements, Indonesia
looked like questioning the continuing relevance of Asean, and some newer
members still had to settle in and internalise Asean’s work culture. But a
better, more cohesive future may still beckon.
On its 45th birthday, Asean and
its leaders were already looking forward to a more cohesive community by 2015.
The “three pillars” as guides for deeper integration would cover politics and security,
society and culture, and not least economics.
For decades, an Asean key word
has been “resilience”. In the ongoing process of integration, another might be
“coalescence”.
The political and security pillar
is understandably the most delicate, given existing sensitivities. That also
means it needs to see most progress, particularly when it was Asean’s raison
d’être from the beginning, albeit not officially declared as such.
Economic pillar
The business community in all
Asean countries should be as excited at the prospects under the economic pillar
as any other sector. This covers areas like freer investment flows,
encouragement for small and medium enterprises, regionwide national treatment
for investors, a single aviation market and collective free trade agreements
with other countries and regions.
The social and cultural pillar is
where Asean officials may need to take better care than they might otherwise
do. The current focus is rightly on a people-centred Asean, given how the
organisation had for so long been “top heavy” as officials crowded out their
peoples from engaging one another across their borders as a regional community.
But it should also be recognised
that the peoples of Asean had established linkages among themselves even before
Asean was established. This should be given space to continue and grow, so that
official efforts do not impede these linkages or consider them primordial and
thus less legitimate.
For example, the Association of
South-East Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) was established as an
NGO in 1956. In the areas of teaching, research and public service, it aims at
promoting a sense of interdependence across the borders and a greater regional
identity.
Various commercial ventures can
or have also come into their own, working towards the same basic objectives of
Asean itself. Asean leaders need to be enlightened enough to encourage all of
them without getting in their way.
Sports is an area of common
interest among the nations of Asean. The SEA Games, the Asean Para Games (for
the physically disabled) and the Asean Football Championship have contributed
to intra-Asean ties, but within their limits.
The competitive sports they feature
typically pit various national teams against one another. A more creative way
to foster greater regionalism would be to form Asean teams for the most popular
sports, such as football, with players in each team drawn from the best that
each Asean country has to offer.
These Asean teams, wearing the
Asean colours and emblem, would then compete against teams from Japan, China,
South Korea, the US, Russia, India, and Australasia (Asean dialogue partners).
A collective Asean mindset is already being encouraged with Asean’s bid to host
the 2030 World Cup as a single entity, with various venues in different Asean
countries.
Another area of common interest
is popular entertainment, especially contemporary music. By appealing to youth
in particular, the greater sense of regionalism that is cultivated would remain
with the younger generation, through successive generations.
In Europe the Eurovision Song
Contest was developed into an institution. Although high-brow critics have
sniffed at the commercialism and limited musical talent, the more important
point is that such occasions help develop greater regional awareness among the
masses.
There are many more areas of
popular culture that can be developed to the greater regional interest. When
conceived as a profitable investment, the sponsors will be ready to make them
happen.
The Asean business community
itself had been sidelined by the organisation for too many years. The Asean
Business Council got off the ground with official Asean support only in the
third decade of the organisation.
Asean policymakers have made a
start with wanting to make the future of Asean more people-friendly, first by
making Asean’s present more people-centred. That may be the best or only way to
ensure the future of the region as a regional entity.
From that point on, Asean may
begin to consider the prospects for developing its own collective “soft power.”
Since Asean countries individually and together do not amount to much in hard
power terms, that which is taken to be soft power, for what it is worth, may also
be Asean’s best bridge to the future.
Asean’s future is what its member
nations make of it and of themselves, and the future begins now.
BUNN NAGARA
Business & Investment Opportunities
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