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ASEAN turns 43, gets praise, critics
ASEAN has been an "enormous success" for security and fostering a sense of belonging, says expert
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SEAN has been an "enormous success" for security and fostering a sense of belonging, says expert. Even so, many acknowledge that large challenges remain to be met in terms of economic integration.
ASEAN (the Association of South east Asian Nations) members will be holding celebrations in honor of the organization's founding in 1967 on Sunday.
On the eve of its anniversary, regional expert at Islamic State University in Jakarta Mutiara Pertiwi argues that the project set out more than 40 years ago "has been an enormous success, both for the region and Indonesia."
"When we look back at the tension that existed in 1967, and the large potential for conflict, ASEAN has been instrumental in allowing top government officials to cooperate to prevent much of the possible damage," she told The Jakarta Post.
Since the dawn of the organization, ASEAN has expanded from its original five members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to include a total of 10 in the region. The most recent countries to join were Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
The striking diversity and enormous range of countries in the region has led to mixed results in negotiations and implementation of various agreements. The most advanced economy in the organization, Singapore is over 80 times richer than the least, Myanmar.
A recent report issued by the World Economic Forum said that "this large degree of diversity may explain why ASEAN has so far made little progress towards economic integration in the past 40 years".
The report also notes how despite overall ASEAN trade increasing "over the past decade exponentially, the share of intra-ASEAN exports only increased from 19 percent to 23 percent."
In comparison to other integration areas such as the EU where intra-member trade is on average 65.8 percent and 44.3 percent between NAFTA members, the report finds ASEAN's figure to be "fairly low and stagnating".
When asked how ASEAN has affected Indonesia, Mutiara expressed her belief that the organization has had a positive impact. "ASEAN has given Indonesia a strong sense of security, and a sense of belonging to a regional community. Before the organization's existence, Indonesia's role was not as clearly defined."
The ASEAN Secretariat has repeatedly emphasized that even though its main focus is not on military matters, its officials stance remains that "through political dialogue and confidence building ASEAN has prevented occasional bilateral tensions from escalting into confrontation amongst its members."
A prime example of ASEAN's role in increasing stability across the region can be seen in the creation of the ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) in 1994. The forum has succeeded in engaging large political actors such as the EU, China and USA in discussions and has lead to the development of cooperative responses to regional problems.
ASEAN has also been seen as crucial in establishing important treaties such as the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty in 1995, effectively having eliminated the presence of nuclear weapons in the region in 2001 when it was ratified by the Philippines.
Results from a survey taken across the student population in each of the 10 member countries for the ASEAN Foundation provides further evidence to suggest that the organization has been successful in fostering a sense of belonging amongst its citizens.
