International Relation of South East Asia

Question: Write an essay on "International Relation of South East Asia". Answer: Learning from Mie Oba paper The ASEAN Countries are eager to create a regional community of their own, since the First ASEAN Summit, held in 1976 (Oba 2014). The Declaration of the ASEAN Concord stated that the member states should strive to develop a regional identity of their own and contribute fully towards creating a strong foundation of the ASEAN community (Oba 2014). After a series of Concords and Summits, it was decided that the creation of an independent ASEAN community should be made, to maintain prosperity and stability in the South East Asian region (Oba 2014). The ASEAN countries are aiming to create a true community with universal values (like democracy, protection of human rights, establishing a set of rules and others) (Oba 2014). The creation of a separate region for South East Asia is in the top priority lists of ASEAN and consists of three pillars, namely Economic, Political and Security and Socio-Cultural. (Oba 2014) Learning from Zakaria Bin Ahmed Paper The Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) celebrated its 40th year anniversary with demonstrated magnitude of peace and least possibilities of a war like situation (Ahmad 2012). The ASEAN Charter has made propositions for unique ideas for the community building purpose, keeping in mind the mid-life crisis of the association (Ahmad 2012). The dilemma deals with the idea of expanding the ASEAN beyond the boundaries of South East Asia to engage with China's exponential growth and the steady development of the Indian Subcontinent (Ahmad 2012). There should be an understanding of the driving force of ASEAN, particularly for the founder countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore (Ahmad 2012). These nations represent the continental and maritime activities of the region and are the key drivers of ASEAN. The ASEAN is considered as significantly larger than the parts of its individual components (Ahmad 2012). There is more emphasis on ASEAN regionalism, on the completion of 40 years. There are sense and initiative for the achievement of "One Southeast Asia" (Ahmad 2012). Learning from Donald Weatherbee paper There is a significant level of cooperation between the South East Asia nations and the ASEAN. Indonesia undertook the chairmanship of ASEAN during the period 2009-2011 and the stewardship of the country was praised for meeting the challenges of community building (Weatherbee 2012). The activist agenda of Jakarta helped ASEAN to achieve peaceful, prosperous and democratic community by the year 2015 (Weatherbee 2012). The Bali Concord III, initiated by Indonesia, attempted to lead the decision making activities of ASEAN on international matters. There was a tendency of South East Asia to include the United States and China for playing specialised roles (Weatherbee 2012). China could act as the economic partner and America could act as the security provider, safeguarding the peace of the region. There was a level of tension in the quality of government in Myanmar (Weatherbee 2012). In 2014, Myanmar was rewarded the chairmanship of the group by ASEAN. There was a rising dilemma with the South China Sea and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) (Weatherbee 2012). The region about the South East Asia is unique and different from other Asian regions in several ways (Acharya 2014). The region is heterogeneous in nature with different religions and different forms of government. The region has huge wealth disparities and underlying social, economic and demographic characteristics of the South East regions economies (Acharya 2014). The economies of the region are at different levels of economic and industrial development with different GDP per capita (Acharya 2014). The two powers in the region namely China and Japan have a long-term political, economic and cultural influence on the South East Asia nations (Acharya 2014). The integration process of regional development and the industrialisation of the South East Asia are closely interconnected (Acharya 2014). There have been rapid changes in the trends of regionalism in South East Asia. The future would witness a lot of new initiatives applied to an increasing portion of this particular region (Ac harya 2014). The term regionalism deals with the preferential trade liberalisation or certain discriminatory trade liberalisation since the term discrimination is often synonymous with preference (Krishna 2013). There are certain obstacles concerning the regionalism of South East Asia (Krishna 2013). The agriculture is the central problem as it is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the developing countries included in the South East region (Krishna 2013). The South East region displays the highest rate of growth in the intra-regional trade. The region is transforming itself into an important source of imports and not only exports (Krishna 2013). The future of the regionalism of South East Asia believes that each country should cooperate with each other and imbibe values such as national sovereignty, peaceful resolution of conflicts and non-intervention in the domestic politics (Dent 2013). There are several roadways which have led to the formation of Roadmap for the ASEAN community (Oba 2014). The roadmaps consist of IAI Work Plan, ASCC Blueprint and APSC Blueprint. The creation of an ASEAN community was proposed by the 1976 Declaration of ASEAN Concord (Sukma 2014). There is an emerging proposition for creating a regional community, with a specific vision. The future of the regionalism of South East Asia looks promising if there is an adoption of the right approach (Asfa and Ahmed 2015). The identity of the South East region should be developed. There is a greater need for appreciation of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and its success should be valued (Asfa and Ahmed 2015). The countries should provide their full assistance to SAARC as this association has led to several gains. The regional objectives should be prioritised and streamlined with the national priorities (Asfa and Ahmed 2015). There is a need of sensitization of the Functional Ministries, for understanding the importance of the regional cooperation (Asfa and Ahmed 2015). The physical and the virtual connectivity of the South East Asian region need to be developed so that it addresses the needs of the less developed countries (Asfa and Ahmed 2015). References Acharya, A., 2014.Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the problem of regional order. Routledge. Ahmad, Zakaria Bin. (2012). ASEAN beyond 40. East Asia 29(2), 157-166. Asfa, R. and Ahmed, M., 2015. PROSPECTS OF REGIONALISM: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SAARC AND ASEAN.Asia Pacific-Annual Research Journal of Far East South East Asia,33. Dent, C.M., 2013. Paths ahead for East Asia and AsiaPacific regionalism.International Affairs,89(4), pp.963-985. Krishna, P., 2013. Preferential trade agreements and the world trade system: a multilateralist view. InGlobalization in an Age of Crisis: Multilateral Economic Cooperation in the Twenty-First Century(pp. 131-160). University of Chicago Press. Oba, Mie. (2014). ASEAN and the Creation of a Regional Community. Asia-Pacific Review 21(1),63-78. Sukma, R., 2014. ASEAN beyond 2015: The imperatives for further institutional changes.ERIA Discussion Paper. Jakarta: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. 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