Session Name: Asian States Relationality to the integration strategies of China, Russia, and the United States
3 - Preliminary Assessment of U.S. Efforts to Re-engage with the Southeast Asian Region: New Connotations of the 'ASEAN Centrality' Narrative
Monday, July 29, 2024
16:15 – 18:00 (GMT+7)
Presentation Abstract In recent years, the significance of the Southeast Asian region for the U.S. has been reflected in the Biden administration’s numerous political, economic and security initiatives. Washington has doubled its efforts to address the “economic and security threats” posed by China in the ASEAN region investing into numerous political, economic, supply-chain-related, institution-building, and security initiatives to bolster U.S. relations with the regional actors. Each of the great powers involved in the heated rivalry for leadership – China, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Russia, and India – has re-emphasized the ASEAN centrality as the core principle to safeguard regional stability. At the same time, these countries accuse each other of jeopardizing this principle. This paper examines the regional actors’ responses to this new strategic challenge, and evaluates the probability for the U.S. to outcompete China in this pivotal region. It argues that the emergence of the new U.S.-China bipolarity hollows up the ASEAN-centered regional order and prompts the regional actors to search for new resources and opportunities to reassert “ASEAN centrality” and address the risks of geopolitical fragmentation.
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