ASEAN as a Potential Actor in Global Governance:
Prerequisites, Opportunities, and Prospects
Efremova K.A.,
Professor at Asian and African Studies Department, School of International Relations; Research Fellow at the Centre for Comprehensive Chinese Studies and Regional Projects, MGIMO University, efremova@mgimo.ru
elibrary_id: 320393 | ORCID: 0000-0003-4300-6683 | RESEARCHER_ID: G-4397-2015
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2020.03.04
Efremova K.A. ASEAN as a Potential Actor in Global Governance: Prerequisites, Opportunities, and Prospects. – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.03.04
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), established in 1967, is the oldest and the most developed regional grouping outside the Western world. In recent decades, it has claimed the right to become the driver of interregional cooperation and regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region. The concept of ASEAN centrality implies that ASEAN should possess a leading role in the processes of regional, and maybe also global, governance. However, whether ASEAN is capable of playing this role or not is up for debate. This paper deals with the issues of ASEAN subjectivity, and its ability (or inability) to take part in the processes of global governance. Preliminary analysis shows that there are some prerequisites for considering ASEAN as a potential actor of global governance. However, it is debatable if ASEAN is able (or is willing) to actualize its potential in order to share the responsibility for conducting global-level decisions with other members of the global community, and whether other states – not only the global leaders, but developing countries as well – will agree to accept the new global role ASEAN plays. At the moment, ASEAN cannot claim status as a full-fledged actor in global governance. Nevertheless, it can lobby its interests related to the solution of global problems (which affect Southeast Asia as well) through interregional structures that it created. It may be argued that ASEAN will not become a classic world power like the U.S., China, or Russia, but it still will be able to transform itself into a global center of gravity as the EU currently does. Therefore, ASEAN has every chance to become an actor in global governance one day in the future.
References
Acharya A. 2017. The Myth of ASEAN centrality? – Contemporary Southeast Asia. Vol. 39. No. 2. P. 273-280.
Arifin S. 2011. Global Governance: Opportunities and Challenges for ASEAN Economic Community. Paper presented at the workshop on “Managing Regional and Global Governance in Asia”, Bank Indonesia, Definit,
GIZ and DIE. Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 13 October 2011. Yogyakarta: Bank Indonesia.
Global Governance 2025: At a Critical Juncture. 2010. Paris: The EU Institute of Security Studies (EUISS).
Global Governance from Regional Perspectives: A Critical View. 2017. Ed. by A. Triandafyllidou. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
International Organization and Global Governance. 2014. T.G. Weiss, R. Wilkinson. N.Y.: Routledge.
He J. 2016. Normative Power in the EU and ASEAN: Why They Diverge. – International Studies Review. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 92-105. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viv028
Hermawan Y.P., Sriyuliani W., Hardjowijono G.H., Tanaga S. 2011. The Role of Indonesia in the G-20: Background, Role and Objectives of Indonesia’s Membership. Jakarta: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Indonesia Office.
Stubbs R. 2008. The ASEAN Alternative? Ideas, Institutions and the Challenge to “Global” Governance. – Pacific Review. Vol. 21. No. 4. P. 451-468. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512740802294713
Tan S.S. 2017. Rethinking “Asean Centrality” in the Regional Governance of East Asia. – The Singapore Economic Review. Vol. 62. No. 3. P. 721-740. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590818400076
Tay S. 2013. Growing an ASEAN Voice? A Common Platform in Global and Regional Governance. Jakarta: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
The ASEAN Charter. 2007. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
Whitman J. 2009. The Fundamentals of Global Governance. Houndmills, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bogaturov A.D. 2002. Sreda – protiv liderov. “Prostranstvennaya struktura” samoorganizatsii mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenii v Vostochnoi Azii [Environment Against the Leaders. “Spatial Structure” of Self-Organization of International Relations in East Asia]. – Ocherki teorii i metodologii politicheskogo analiza mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenii [Essays on the Theory and Methodology of the Political Analysis of International Relations]. Moscow: NOFMO. P. 266-282. (In Russ.)
Global’noe upravlenie: vozmozhnosti i riski. Pod red. V.G. Baranovskogo, N.I. Ivanovoi. 2015. [Global Governance: Opportunities and Risks. Ed. by V.G. Baranovskii, N.I. Ivanova]. Moscow: IMEMO RAN. (In Russ.).
Koldunova E.V. 2014. The Role of BRICS in Global Governance. – Comparative Politics Russia. Vol. 5. No. 1. P. 60-64. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18611/2221-3279-2014-5-1(14)-60-64
Koldunova E.V. 2017. “Dialogue Partnerships” in ASEAN’s External Relations. – International Trends. Vol. 15. No. 3. P. 55-66. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17994/IT.2017.15.3.50.5
Larionova M. 2016. Evaluating Global Institutions’ Effectiveness. Assessing Summit Institutions Engagement with Other International Organizations in the Process of Global Governance. – International Organizations Research Journal. Vol. 11. No. 1. P. 126-152. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17323/1996-7845/2016-01-126
Leonova O.G. 2013. Global Regionalization as a Phenomenon of Global Peace Development. – Age of Globalization. No. 1. P. 59-66. (In Russ.)
Mitrofanova A.V., Kulmatov K.N. 2010. Interregionalism and Global Governance. – Mir i politika. No. 2. P. 59-69. (In Russ.)
Strel’tsov D.V. 2007. Japan and the East Asian Community: A Side View. – World Economy and International Relations. No. 2. P. 57-66. (In Russ.)
Sumsky V.V. 2017. Record and Challenges of Regionalism in Southeast Asia. – International Trends. Vol. 15. No. 3. P. 5-11. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17994/IT.2017.15.3.50.1
See also:
Sevastyanov S.V.,
The «New Regionalism» of East Asia: Theoretical and Practical Aspects. – Polis. Political Studies. 2009. No4
Arapova E.Ya., Khokhlova N.I.,
Regionalization Models in the Asia-Pacific Region. – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No5
Mushakoji K.,
Political and Cultural Background of Conflicts and Global Governance. – Polis. Political Studies. 1991. No3
Pavlova E.B., Romanova T.A.,
Normative Power: Some Theory Aspects and Contemporary Practice of Russia and the EU. – Polis. Political Studies. 2017. No1
Gandhi R.,
South Asia, Central Asia and Russia: hte Islamic Factor. – Polis. Political Studies. 1993. No3