Deepening the integration of Southeast Asia

Yayan GH Mulyana, Bogor, West Java

The 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), which took place in Jakarta this week marked a new "punctuated equilibrium" in the process towards a more integrated Southeast Asia. A new chapter in the evolution of ASEAN began when the AMM agreed to the Plan of Action for the ASEAN Security Community, initially drafted by Indonesia.

The process towards the ASEAN community has long been on the way. Yet, during the current Indonesian chairmanship of ASEAN, the process has been reinvigorated and redirected through the development of three pillars -- the security, economic, and socio-cultural communities.

Thus, an inventive reconstruction has been occurring in the architecture of international relations in the region. The final outcome of the process could be the emergence of more interconnected Southeast Asians in a multi-dimensional manner and a benevolent regional order.

There are three important elements that could help shape the ongoing construction of the ASEAN community, which hopefully could materialize by 2020. Those elements include institutional building, norm-setting activities and the formation of a "we feeling."

The emerging ASEAN community means an institutional shift within the region. Along with this shift, the indistinct societal configuration of Southeast Asia will develop toward a more organized community. The institutional shift covers, among other things, the introduction of new mechanisms and the strengthening of existing mechanisms at both governmental and social levels. Institutional building should encourage the ramification of accesses and avenues through which inter-societal interaction in the region develops.

Institutional building could occur spontaneously in a self- help system or through systematic initiatives both from the governments (top-down) or the ASEAN populace (bottom-up).

Successful institutional building will result in a greater level of institutionalization not only in ASEAN as an organization but also in the family of Southeast Asian nations as a community. This accomplishment will eventually elevate the regionalization process of ASEAN from a soft regionalism to a cohesive one.

Norms are indispensable element of a community. For the ASEAN community, the promotion of security, economic, and socio- cultural norms is vital. Norm-setting processes could begin with declarations on issues.

This has become the established practice in ASEAN. When commitment of the ASEAN member states to the process is stronger, greater steps could be taken towards the development of more binding instruments, including the development of an ASEAN Charter.

Norm-setting process in the region could also be directed towards the creation of the ASEAN way -- the ASEAN version of living a life, administering statehood, managing intra-regional relations, and resolving conflicts. This should not become a narrow-minded and exclusive venture. While embracing international norms, the region could develop its individual normative parameters.

The ASEAN way should go beyond a mere style of diplomacy among ASEAN countries that emphasizes patience, evolution, informality, pragmatism, and consensus. It should also penetrate and be embraced by different levels of society in ASEAN. The capacity of every member of the ASEAN public in developing and internalizing the ASEAN way will affect the construction and the size of acceptance of such norms.

The "we feeling" is a mental condition that builds a cognitive and affective interconnection among ASEAN nationals. Such a feeling will not develop if ASEAN emphasizes an elitist approach in its work, or if ASEAN considers that the ASEAN community is the sole business of governments. It is the responsibility of the ASEAN governments to inform their nationals that a process towards the ASEAN community is really taking place; to empower them so that they can actively participate in the process; and to facilitate their participation.

The formation of a "we feeling" requires the promotion of literacy among ASEAN nationals concerning ASEAN affairs. As for Indonesians, for example, such a feeling suggests that becoming "ASEANese" is as important as becoming an Indonesian. This "ASEANization" should encourage ASEAN nationals to think and act in terms of national and regional perspectives. Increasing the capacity of thinking and acting nationally and regionally in a spontaneous manner is not a one-night gain. It requires governments to embark on a rigorous and far-reaching social engineering of the concept of ASEANness in the public, so it becomes internalized.

This ASEANization could be facilitated by the development of civil society groups that have a particular interest in ASEAN or in the Association's issues of concern. When governments lack resources or are less explicit in their commitment, those groups could fill the void resulting from such a situation. With their outreach access, these groups could help transmit information concerning ASEAN and its all aspects to the public at grass-roots level.

They also could help the public understand better what benefits they can have from Indonesia's membership in ASEAN. Other important things these civil groups could contribute is to serve as vehicle for the public to respond to and take part in the process. They should not necessarily become pressure or interest groups, but rather genuinely issue-oriented groups.

The eventual manifestation of the ASEAN community should not necessarily be in the form of an ASEAN union or a regionalism like the African Union (AU) or the European Union (EU). There is no doubt that the latter have higher levels of institutionalization and integration. Nevertheless, if its members wish, with greater commitment to closer and more intensified cooperation and interaction as well as greater willingness to compromise the rigid notion of sovereignty, the ASEAN community could become an AU or EU in Southeast Asia.

The writer (yanvontsazik@yahoo.com) currently serves as the head of the secretariat for advisers and special envoys of the president at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ideas expressed in this article are his own.