The dynamics were discussed at a closed-door roundtable hosted by the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Thursday under Chatham House Rule, which allows participants to speak freely without attribution.

Participants questioned whether Southeast Asian countries were being pushed into a posture of appeasement toward Washington under Trump’s foreign policy or whether ASEAN still retained space to assert strategic autonomy in regional and global affairs.

The participation of several ASEAN member states in initiatives such as Pax Silica and the Board of Peace was cited as an example of regional engagement with US-aligned frameworks, even as the bloc has struggled to forge a unified response to other American policy moves.

Participants also pointed to how some member states responded to punitive US tariffs by dispatching delegates to Washington to pursue bilateral discussions, while ASEAN as a bloc refrained from retaliation and instead opted for “frank and constructive dialogue” with the US.

Read also: Trump’s return puts ASEAN back in spotlight

However, one speaker argued that ASEAN’s lack of a unified response should not necessarily be read as weakness, but rather as realism in a complex strategic environment, noting that national interest calculations often shape member states’ choices.

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