Archives ASEAN - Page 4 of 6 - New Eastern Outlook

This December will commemorate exactly half a century since Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises ten nations now, nearly every nation in the subregion (with the exception of Papua New Guinea and East Timor), established formal diplomatic ties. Observe that the “issue price” of control is steadily rising at this point in the Big World Game. The subregion is also becoming more significant in Japan’s foreign policy, which is returning to the game as a major player following its defeat in World War II. But let us not forget that the same strategic drive of Imperial Japan to the southwest was the primary cause…

On September 8, 2023, Stratfor issued an article in which a group of authors forecasts a dismal future for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It specifically states that ASEAN’s inaction on critical problems at its most recent summit will erode the value of the Association to its members and eventually push them to align themselves with China or the US, effectively ending ASEAN’s existence. According to Stratfor, the ASEAN conference failed to achieve real progress on matters critical to ASEAN as a whole. This “failure” is allegedly so serious that the Association’s member states are forced to seek new allies.  The American think tank attributes it to the crisis in Myanmar and ASEAN…

The Biden administration’s contradictory foreign policy has raised doubts among regional experts about how seriously to take its repeated pledges to support the “central role” of ASEAN. In late August the White House administration announced that President Biden would not take up his invitation to the ASEAN summit in Jakarta, but would send Vice President Kamala Harris instead. Nevertheless, in early September, United States Air Force One did indeed fly to Asia, carrying Joe Biden first to the G20 meeting in New Delhi, and then on a state visit to the Vietnamese…