“ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations” was the theme
Indonesia chose when it became ASEAN Chair in 2011. One reason for this choice
may have been that the government believes a globally more pro-active ASEAN
would boost Indonesia’s own aspirations for a greater global role.
However, the theme also
acknowledges that only if Southeast Asia acts collectively in international
organizations, it may master the multiple challenges posed by rapid global
change.
More than ever, international
institutions have become arenas for negotiating solutions for global problems.
However, institutional politics is not power-free. Great powers usually
determine the rules of the game, the decision-making procedures and the norms
underlying institutional politics. If smaller and weaker countries want to
avoid that they become mere rule-takers, deprived of the gains international
cooperation may entail, they must act as a bloc.
Good examples where institutional
control produces asymmetrical material outcomes are the Bretton Woods
institutions. Control of the economically advanced countries over
decision-making in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) benefits rich countries and discriminates against poorer
nations.
Several criteria must be
fulfilled if ASEAN as a grouping of less powerful states is to become an
effective player in global forums: It must (1) have access to the expert
knowledge needed to understand increasingly technical and complex policy
matters, (2) coordinate its negotiation positions, (3) speak with one voice and
(4) vote and act in unison.
But does ASEAN meet these minimum
criteria? Is it prepared to become an effective negotiator in global forums?
Already a very preliminary
analysis suggests that ASEAN is far from being able to make an impact in
international forums. ASEAN has so far failed to become an effective negotiator
and collective actor. In key issues of the current world order such as the
reform of the United Nations, the global trade and financial regimes, climate
change and non-proliferation ASEAN has mostly failed to muster collective
strength.
So far, it has not been able to
translate its prestige as a manager of regional affairs into global influence.
In many forums, ASEAN member countries mainly articulate national preferences.
They are, as Razeen Sally found out for the WTO, increasingly “bowling alone”.
To become a more effective
international actor, ASEAN must address at least five shortcomings.
First, the ASEAN Secretariat
needs to be strengthened. So far, the Secretariat has no active role in the
preparation and conduct of international negotiations. The ASEAN Secretary
General lacks competences to conduct international negotiations in the name of
ASEAN. Member governments jealously guard their policymaking prerogatives,
limiting the Secretariat to its very basic secretarial functions.
Second, one way for the
Secretariat of supporting ASEAN negotiators in international organizations
would be to serve as a catalyst for providing expert knowledge. Yet, until now,
its capacity for the absorption of knowledge is extremely limited. The Secretariat
is neither adequately funded nor staffed for such a function. Only if the
Secretariat and ASEAN governments are better linked with regional centers of
expertise, they may match the advanced knowledge developed countries mobilize
for international negotiations.
Accessing knowledge is more than
occasional meetings with the ASEAN-ISIS think tank. It also means to build up
institutionalized communication channels with regional universities, interest
groups, non-governmental organization (NGO) networks and civil society. This
would have another positive side-effect for ASEAN: It would help the grouping
overcoming its regional corporatism in which only selected, albeit often
irrelevant entities have access to ASEAN bodies. In fact, more interaction with
non-governmental actors would promote ASEAN’s transformation into a more
people-oriented organization as envisioned in the ASEAN Charter.
Third, ASEAN representatives in
international organizations must institutionalize and streamline their
coordination. This entails the formation of regional contact groups working out
the mandate for negotiation. Negotiators then have to coordinate the framing of
the issues under negotiation, agenda-setting and voting behavior. Split voting
of ASEAN in the UN is still almost as frequent as joint voting. Coordinating
negotiations in major international organizations is the task of the ASEAN New
York and Geneva Committees. Yet, coordination is often informal; its intensity
varies and depends on the respective Committee chair.
Fourth, ASEAN must be better
represented in leadership positions of global institutions. Chairs provide many
opportunities for steering the negotiation process. If ASEAN proposes own
candidates for executive positions in international organizations, it must
select persuasive personalities and campaign for them vigorously. Not
surprisingly, ASEAN’s somewhat lackluster support for Surakiart Sathirathai,
the Thai candidate for the post of the UN Secretary General in 2006, has
contributed to the latter’s defeat.
Fifth, ASEAN countries must
better orchestrate their coalition-building in global institutions. It is
counterproductive, if, like in the WTO, individual ASEAN countries join
rivaling coalitions and work against each other.
All this suggests that ASEAN still
has a long way to go before becoming an effective actor in global forums. But
with the selection of the theme for the Indonesian ASEAN chairmanship in 2011,
at least awareness for these problems has been raised.
Jürgen Rüland
The writer is professor of political science at the University of
Freiburg, Germany, and chairman of the university’s Southeast Asian studies program.
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