Testing Times for ASEAN as Indo-Pacific Leaders Meet

“The annual ASEAN ‘summit season’ is upon us. What’s on the agenda?

“The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins three days of intense regional summitry on 26 October, facing a barrage of tests to its relevance, internal cohesion, and social and economic health.

“Chaired by Brunei, Southeast Asian leaders will meet virtually for their end-of-year summit and a suite of meetings that have ASEAN at their core. Most significant of these is the annual leaders’ meeting of the 18-member East Asia Summit (EAS — China traditionally is represented by its premier) …

“The ASEAN summit — the group’s highest policy-making body — and its associated meetings are big affairs. They produce an astonishing quantity of often immensely long declarations, statements, frameworks and plans to support the ASEAN community-building project.

“Each chair brings its own priorities and projects to the table. This year, for example, Brunei’s ‘deliverables’ include an ASEAN declaration on upholding multilateralism and a ‘blue economy’ initiative.

“Every summit season also has its share of dramas and small battles.”

Read more about the major challenges facing ASEAN leaders in Richard Maude’s analysis for the Asia Society.