Russia’s envoy to ASEAN has warned that Southeast Asia’s much-lauded centrality is at risk of being challenged by the “strategic uncertainties and ambiguities” of Indo-Pacific concepts that other powers allegedly use to advance their own vested interests in the region. Speaking at a recent webinar organized by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Russian Ambassador to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov discussed attempts to “divide and rule” through various Indo-Pacific concepts, especially amid growing tensions between the United States and China. “At stake is not only ASEAN’s central role in the region but peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,” Ivanov said on Nov. 19. Speaking from his experience in preparing for the recent East Asia Summit – an ASEAN-led mechanism convening leaders of 16 countries that w...