The ASEAN influence competition

The Jakarta Post reports on parallel U.S. and Chinese efforts to influence ASEAN: As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her mission in Jakarta to enhance ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and bolster the grouping’s role in the South China Sea spat, China pledged to give Cambodia US$500 ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The Jakarta Post reports on parallel U.S. and Chinese efforts to influence ASEAN:

The Jakarta Post reports on parallel U.S. and Chinese efforts to influence ASEAN:

As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her mission in Jakarta to enhance ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and bolster the grouping’s role in the South China Sea spat, China pledged to give Cambodia US$500 million in loans and grants as a token of gratitude for Phnom Penh’s move in accommodating the Asian superpower’s interests in the region.

Clinton concluded her state visit to Indonesia by making a courtesy call on President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono and paying a visit to ASEAN headquarters in South Jakarta.

Even leaving aside Chinese efforts to keep the organization divided (at least on the South China Sea), Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations argues here that U.S. efforts to back the regional organization will be for naught if ASEAN members themselves don’t upgrade its diplomatic capacity:

But Secretary Clinton, or other American, Japanese, or Australian officials pushing and prodding ASEAN to develop a stronger organization, is likely to have little impact. The organization was designed to be relatively weak, by powerful, often autocratic leaders of the original ASEAN member states, who were highly reluctant to cede any ground to a regional organization. Today, however, many ASEAN leaders themselves are starting to realize that, for the organization to pull its weight in regional affairs, and to effectively defend members’ interests on critical issues like the South China Sea, ASEAN will require both greater unity and a more substantial Secretariat, led by a high-profile figure who can command world attention…

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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