Does ASEAN matter? A view from within

Abstract

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017, which prompted the publication of a number of scholarly works analysing its past achievements as well as the challenges facing the organization going forward. However, much of the existing literature tends to fall into one of two camps: either a dismissive appraisal of ASEAN's role, emphasizing internal disagreements over Myanmar and the South China Sea or lamenting the lack of progress in realizing EU-style economic and political integration; or, alternatively, a more jubilant outlook depicting ASEAN not only as a peacemaker in south-east Asia, but also as a stabilizing force and sponsor of multilateral institutions in the wider Asian region (cf. Kishore Mahbubani and Jeffery Sng, The ASEAN miracle, Singapore: NUS Press, 2017). The former Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Marty Natalegawa, offers his perspective in a new book entitled Does ASEAN matter?. Although he ends up answering in the affirmative, Natalegawa is not blind to the weaknesses of ASEAN and the challenges facing the organization. As such, his is a nuanced and insightful contribution to the debate. The book is divided into three main parts, each dealing with one of ASEAN's three transformative contributions, as the author sees them.