{"id":23908,"date":"2015-12-14T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T19:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=23908"},"modified":"2015-12-14T10:38:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T23:38:03","slug":"australia-into-asean-the-asean-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23909 size-full\" title=\"It's a no\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg\" alt=\"It's a no\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z-205x115.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The Southeast Asian rejection of Australia joining ASEAN is simply expressed: \u2018You\u2019re not from around here. You don\u2019t think like us. You don\u2019t belong.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The argument is about identity defined through geography.<\/p>\n<p>The previous column in this series gave an ASEAN version of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-yes\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018Yes\u2019<\/a> case for Australia and New Zealand making the Association a 12-nation Community.<\/p>\n<p>Now for the \u2018No\u2019 case as put by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rodolfo_Severino,_Jr.\" target=\"_blank\">Rodolfo Severino<\/a>, a Philippines diplomat who was\u00a0the Secretary General of ASEAN from 1998 to 2002. His summary of the negative case:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018ASEAN will say, \u201cYou\u2019re not Southeast Asian.\u201d And that\u2019s all the criterion is, to be a member of ASEAN. You must belong to a region called Southeast Asia, which was invented by Lord Mountbatten by the way \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/South_East_Asia_Command\" target=\"_blank\">South East Asian Command<\/a> \u2013 but that\u2019s neither here nor there. The fact is that the region exists now, conceptually, which is the most important thing.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Severino\u2019s long held view is that Australia has a \u2018sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com.au\/books?id=D2m74ag0ixgC&amp;redir_esc=y\" target=\"_blank\">ambivalent and fluctuating<\/a> relationship\u2019 with ASEAN. He describes the elements of this variable approach as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Australia\u2019s desire for economic engagement with Southeast Asia<\/li>\n<li>Southeast Asia\u2019s strategic location between Australia and the rest of Asia<\/li>\n<li>ASEAN\u2019s role as the hub of East Asian regionalism<\/li>\n<li>Australia\u2019s close and unwavering relationship with the US<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Severino thinks the fluctuations with ASEAN reflect the larger Australian ambivalence about its place in East Asia. He sees this expressed in Australian politics, with Labor being less equivocal than the Liberal Party in \u2018the desire for identification with East Asia.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The former ASEAN Secretary General was <a href=\"https:\/\/cpd.org.au\/2005\/08\/australia-and-the-southeast-asian-treaty\/\" target=\"_blank\">caustic<\/a> in 2005 about the Howard Government\u2019s initial refusal to sign the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation because Howard viewed the TAC as non-aligned nonsense\u2014a\u00a0\u2018relic of the Cold War.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The ASEAN ultimatum\u2014no TAC signature, no seat at the East Asia Summit\u2014produced what Severino saw in 2005 as a humiliating Oz about-face:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018Canberra\u2019s initial refusal to sign the treaty\u2014indeed, its denigration of it\u2014had affected Southeast Asians\u2019 perceptions of its intentions and motives. Australia continued to signal its reluctance even after it had apparently decided to accede to the TAC; [Foreign Minister] Downer was quoted as saying, \u2018If the price (of participation in the East Asian summit) is signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, we\u2019ll do that\u2019&#8230; Under either political party, Australia has long considered close association with ASEAN and with the larger East Asian region to be in its highest interests. Accession to the TAC, as well as participation in the East Asian Summit, will be a highly visible manifestation of this association. All\u2019s well that ends well, of course, but a bit more enthusiasm and a bit less reluctance on Canberra\u2019s part would have been even better.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When I sat down with Rodolfo Severino last year, he returned to those themes of Australian ambivalence and reluctance and the basic idea that to be ASEAN is to be Southeast Asian.<\/p>\n<p>I put to him the argument that conceptions of Asian geography are expanding. The East Asia Summit embraces the US and India as well as Australia and New Zealand. What of a slow push for Australia to have observer status in ASEAN\u2014a half-in membership\u2014by 2024, the 50th anniversary of Australia\u2019s dialogue partnership with ASEAN?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018That would be something to think about. We can\u2019t predict the long term. But in the short term the instinctive reaction would be to reject it. For many reasons. One is \u2013 to me the more resonant one \u2013 is the tendency of Australians to tell Southeast Asians what is good for them. Maybe it needs saying, but not as a member, a permanent observer.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Southeast Asians, he says, look at Australia as a little US, and \u2018although secretly the US is welcome\u2019 in the region it\u2019s not politically fashionable to say so publicly.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018Australia is regarded as a deputy sheriff of the US. The question to answer is: \u201cAre you Asian enough?\u201d For Severino, a ten year push for Australia to have observer status in ASEAN is too short a time to get a positive answer to that query about Asian identity: \u2018I like to talk about facts, realities. So I think observer status is out of the question at this point.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Severino says Australia has a record in Southeast Asia for practical diplomacy and contributing as a good partner, but part of the Australian psyche is still European: \u2018The problem with Australia is its ambivalence. At some point when Australia feels confident enough to say, \u201cWe are in Southeast Asia and we deserve to be in ASEAN,\u201d then that will be the time. But this has to be worked out internally, domestically.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Southeast Asian rejection of Australia joining ASEAN is simply expressed: \u2018You\u2019re not from around here. You don\u2019t think like us. You don\u2019t belong.\u2019 The argument is about identity defined through geography. The previous column &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":23909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[189,17,467],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Southeast Asian rejection of Australia joining ASEAN is simply expressed: \u2018You\u2019re not from around here. You don\u2019t think like us. You don\u2019t belong.\u2019 The argument is about identity defined through geography. The previous column ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-13T19:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-13T23:38:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"359\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":359,\"caption\":\"It's a no\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/\",\"name\":\"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-13T19:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-13T23:38:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\",\"name\":\"Graeme Dobell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graeme Dobell\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist","og_description":"The Southeast Asian rejection of Australia joining ASEAN is simply expressed: \u2018You\u2019re not from around here. You don\u2019t think like us. You don\u2019t belong.\u2019 The argument is about identity defined through geography. The previous column ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2015-12-13T19:00:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-13T23:38:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":359,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graeme Dobell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graeme Dobell","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/2247299538_8a26dcf655_z.jpg","width":640,"height":359,"caption":"It's a no"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/","name":"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019 | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-12-13T19:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-13T23:38:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-into-asean-the-asean-no\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australia into ASEAN: the ASEAN \u2018NO\u2019"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f","name":"Graeme Dobell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graeme Dobell"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23908"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23915,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23908\/revisions\/23915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}