TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
A bolder EU, a more assertive ASEAN
A stronger defense cooperation within ASEAN can be part of the toolkit of actions that might rebalance the current status quo increasingly seen tipping on the side of Beijing.
Change Size
Foreign ministers of ASEAN pose for a group photo during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Nha Trang on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. (AFP/Nhac Nguyen)
T
o better understand the relevance of Southeast Asia in the world, we should look at the Manama Dialogue organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) last week. Along with United States Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Senior Defense Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein were notable key speakers from outside the Gulf region.
The presence of two leaders from the ASEAN community in a regional forum, known for its focus on the geopolitics of the Gulf region, is emblematic of the importance that Southeast Asia is assuming on the world stage.
Both spoke about the importance of adding to ASEAN’s cooperation framework, a more overt security and military dimension that, slowly and far from the headlines, is inevitably taking shape.
While talking about the desire to maintain harmony and peace in the Asia Pacific, Prabowo and Hishammuddin did not hesitate to talk about projections of power and strength in military terms and, interestingly, they took a semi-regional approach to this.
Hishammuddin spoke of the recently relaunched Trilateral Cooperation Arrangement (TCA), a security partnership between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“We are now preparing trilateral patrols between India, Indonesia and Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore,” Prabowo shared in reference to Indonesia’s will to reaffirm a regional approach to its national interests in the South China Sea.
Looking at the latest events in the eastern parts of ASEAN, what Manila sees as the West Philippine Sea, China seems undeterred from showcasing its military power to reaffirm its presumed rights. Talking about common defense in ASEAN makes total sense.
