Prospects for a multi-polarity in ASEAN / Thomas PARKS

Asia’s Post-Pandemic Order and Integration: Outlook of ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific at Crossroads

Prospects for a multi-polarity in ASEAN
Dr. Thomas PARKS, Asia Foundation

The China-US strategic rivalry has galvanized interest in Southeast Asia in ways not seen since the Cold War. However, the rivalry also threatens to bifurcate the ASEAN group of nations should countries be forced into a strategic alignment with superpowers. ASEAN member states have been at the center of great power competition before, but the conditions today are much more conducive for the interests of the region’s middle powers. The regional order is going through rapid transition, and while many are presuming a new Cold War is starting, in fact there are important signs of an emerging multipolar order. How will ASEAN member states navigate this new reality ? How can other external powers, beyond the US and China, help to ensure that the region remains an open and dynamic region ? What are the stumbling blocks to a prospective multipolar order ?

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Session 4 / Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific : The Intersecting Interests of Other Major Powers
Chair : Dr. Claire, Thị Liên TRẦN, IRASEC/Univ de Paris

These last 15 years, other great powers have redefined their strategy in the region, replacing the concept of Asia-Pacific to the one of Indo-Pacific. Indeed, the region involves the intersecting interests of two other major powers - Japan and the United States - and significant middle players – Australia and South Korea as well as Western players – the European Union and Russia. The session intends to highlight their perspectives on the Indo-Pacific definition, with the aim to manage the China’s rise in the regional order. How did these great powers, which have dominated the Asia-Pacific era, reposition themselves in this new Indo-Pacific architecture. How do they manage their influencing diplomacy and partnership building, as well as their strategical and security priorities ? Will the region’s future be dominated by competition or develop in a more cooperative way in this growing economic and strategic super-region connecting two oceans ?

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“Asia’s Post-Pandemic Order and Integration : Outlook of ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific at Crossroads” is an international conference organized by The Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC-CNRS) with the ASEAN Studies Center (Chulalongkorn University) in Bangkok, and the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC), RIS in New Delhi.
8-9 July 2021 - Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok