The making of ASEAN's vision

The making of ASEAN's vision

By Bantarto Bandoro

JAKARTA (JP): The fifth ASEAN summit opening tomorrow in Bangkok deserves special attention, as it will demonstrate the seriousness of ASEAN leaders to accelerate regional cooperation.

In its 28 years of existence, ASEAN has had only four summits. The first three summits were conducted during the era of regional bipolar politics. During this time, Southeast Asia witnessed a general polarization of alignment within the region between ASEAN and Vietnamese-dominated groups. The power relations in the region is therefore defined more in terms of pattern of enmity rather than amity.

The existence of regional rivalry would lead one to assume that the summits functioned as a kind of a shield for ASEAN to contain the possible negative implication of such rivalry.

In spite of the rivalry, ASEAN in fact has been able to manage itself well enough, and its decision to hold its fourth summit in 1992 is seen by many in the region as a willingness to consolidate its regional activities which would not only strengthen ASEAN's stand on certain issues, but also contribute to the making of more stable and peaceful region.

The 1992 ASEAN summit was held under the shadow of uncertainty created by the end of the Cold War. The main concern of the association relates to issues of security and stability in the post Cold War regional environment. This was clearly indicated in the fourth ASEAN summit's Singapore Declaration: "ASEAN could use established fora to promote external security dialogs on enhancing security as well as intra-ASEAN dialogs on ASEAN security cooperation".

The statement indicates that the consultations envisage in it are not intended to transform ASEAN into a security alliance in the conventional sense, but they signal ASEAN's recognition of, and response to, fundamental changes in the regional and strategic environment. It is against such a background that the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was established in 1993.

ASEAN has a pivotal role to play in the ARF, and the two meetings of ARF to date are indicative of ASEAN's commitment to foster habits of cooperation and provide the catalyst for encouraging regional cooperation in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Many bold and important initiatives have been taken by ASEAN since its last summit, be it in the realm of security, economy or politics. And one has also witnessed constructive changes occurring both within and between the countries of Southeast Asia.

The cumulative effects of such changes will definitely give ASEAN additional strength in facing the next century. In short, the art of being ASEAN has now begun to be felt throughout the region. There is no doubt that ASEAN regional diplomacy has been instrumental in creating an image in the region that there should be one stable, peaceful and prosperous Southeast Asia. It is with this in mind that one then focuses its attention to the coming fifth summit of ASEAN.

There is an argument that, due to the constructive regional interaction ASEAN has fostered, the regional recognition of ASEAN's pragmatic approach and the future challenges ASEAN faces, the Bangkok summit will certainly play an important and strategic role in determining ASEAN's journey.

The tasks being borne by the coming summit are recognized as being important. For ASEAN to succeed in the 21st century, the coming summit needs to visualize Southeast Asia as one region. Thus, the main task of the summit is to provide modalities for ASEAN's future generations so that the vision laid down by the summit can be transformed into reality. As Donald Emerson (1984) has said: "... the question is not whether regional unity is a fiction, it is how to make the fiction useful enough to become true".

The visions of ASEAN should be developed around the following issues: regional and political issues; economic issues; and sociocultural issues.

On regional and political issues, ASEAN already possesses two kinds of visions, namely the ARF, through which security dialog can be promoted to enhance stability and peace in the wider Asia- Pacific region; and an ASEAN-based regionwide order which encompasses all 10 countries of Southeast Asia.

What is needed perhaps are visions of how these can be brought to full realization.

ASEAN, as the initiator of ARF, should maintain its leadership role in guiding ARF towards the realization of its objective. It can be said that security management has been and will still be a major aspect of ASEAN evolution. As ASEAN aims at achieving a more secure region, the signing at the coming summit of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone will lay the foundation of a new and strong regional order to ensure long-term security, stability and prosperity in the region.

On the economic issues, it is imperative to achieve a borderless ASEAN because of the need to enhance ASEAN's competitiveness in an increasingly free and open regional and multilateral economic environment.

The ultimate goal is to create a single economy in ASEAN, and this will definitely involve the formulation and implementation of regional and national strategies in both the economic and social sectors.

ASEAN must be aware of the fact that forces to deepen and widen regional economic cooperation continues in the rest of the world. Therefore, it is crucial that ASEAN establish roles for ASEAN economies in the changing global and regional context.

On sociocultural issues, the belief that there is a shared heritage among Southeast Asian countries is clearly spelt out in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation: "...conscious of the existing ties of history, geography and culture, which have bound their peoples together...."

This indicates that cultural factors do play an important role in strengthening ASEAN ties and can help generate ideas as to how to address the affect modernization and westernization has on ASEAN culture. Thus, the fifth summit should also include cultural factors in its framework of vision so that greater intra-ASEAN understanding can be promoted.

The conduct of the fifth summit and the framing of the above mentioned ASEAN vision should be preceded by strong ASEAN commitment to develop a collective Southeast Asia community as a major political, economic and cultural entity on the world stage in the 21st century.

The adoption by ASEAN of such a vision would certainly promote what one calls "positive globalism", in the sense that collective endeavors and synergy of 10 Southeast Asia countries would hopefully lead toward a more secure, stable and prosperous global community.

It is through such a process that ASEAN would maintain its already recognized status as a central part on the global political and economic stage.

The summit, however, should signify that the journey of ASEAN is unfinished. As the 21 century rapidly approaches, the future challenges faced by Southeast Asia are manifold, far reaching and very complex. ASEAN should, therefore, collectively find the best ways to address these challenges.

The writer is with the Department of International Affairs, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta.