Deepening the integration of Southeast Asia

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.