ASEAN's future challenges

ASEAN's future challenges

With interregional relations becoming more important as the
world becomes smaller in this cyber era, the international
community cannot but acknowledge the growing importance of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in boosting
prosperity, peace and stability in the region.

Prosperity, because most members of ASEAN, which initially
comprised only five members when the association was set up 32
years ago but which has expanded to the current 10, have achieved
a marked growth, reduced significantly the number of the poor and
improved the living standards of their people in general.

Peace and stability, because ASEAN has succeeded not only in
bringing peace to warring nations, like Cambodia and Vietnam, but
also in persuading them to have friendly ties before including
them as members of the regional grouping.

It has been an ASEAN consensus, right from its establishment
in 1967 by the five founding nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- that members should
cooperate constructively to achieve their common goals regarding
the security and prosperity of their peoples.

Seen from this aspect, despite its lack of institutional power
and a law-making body, ASEAN has withstood various challenges
while maintaining its basic principles of noninterference among
its member countries, regardless of size, culture or creed as
well as political system.

Needless to say that besides its numerous successes, ASEAN has
also suffered several setbacks during its arduous journey to its
present widely respected state.

ASEAN, surely, will not be complacent with all its
achievements considering that greater challenges loom ahead as it
enters the next millennium. Of this, it has been clearly stated
in the joint communique issued at the closing of its annual 32nd
foreign ministerial meeting on Saturday. The communique calls
for, among other things, more consolidation and renewed
determination of its members to strengthen the association.

With the reform movements and political liberalization taking
place in several countries in the region -- particularly
Indonesia, the largest ASEAN member in terms of area and
population -- the association cannot but review some of its basic
policies so as to adapt to regional and global changes.

In this connection, several questions need to be raised such
as whether the noninterference policy is still relevant and
applicable to the present situation now that human interactions
have become closer and information flow faster thanks to the
progress of telecommunications technology. Or whether it would be
beneficial for ASEAN to continue to adhere to its "Asian values"
regarding human rights and democracy.

This is important because countries contributing most aid to
ASEAN consider respect for human rights a prerequisite to
receiving a helping hand.

Now that ASEAN has proposed "preventive diplomacy" in place of
the confidence-building measures it has undertaken thus far, one
can conclude that ASEAN realizes too well that some of its
policies need changing if it wishes to keep its stature and
importance in coping with the growing challenges.

The recent rising tension between ASEAN members who are
claimants of a groups of islands in the South China Sea is a
living example that not all disputes can be settled through
confidence building alone as some member countries have violated
the grouping's principles and started building structures on the
disputed islands.

ASEAN, perhaps, needs to be more bolder in mapping out its
overall strategies such as to reconsider the Philippines and
Thailand's "constructive intervention" policy proposal. Because
in an era of growing democracy, ASEAN, more likely than not, will
have to constructively intervene in some of its members' internal
affairs if it wishes to enjoy smooth global cooperation with
countries that truly uphold democracy and justice as well as
respect the dignity of human rights.