{"id":49722,"date":"2019-08-12T13:54:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T03:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=49722"},"modified":"2021-08-11T15:17:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T05:17:19","slug":"why-aseans-indo-pacific-outlook-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-aseans-indo-pacific-outlook-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why ASEAN\u2019s Indo-Pacific outlook matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

After more than a year of deliberation, ASEAN adopted the \u2018ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific<\/a>\u2019 on 23 June. The outlook then got an airing at the ASEAN Regional Forum meetings in Bangkok. The document \u2018provides a guide for ASEAN\u2019s engagement in the Asia\u2013Pacific and Indian Ocean regions\u2019 and resembles an Indonesian-conceived plan.<\/p>\n

The idea of the Indo-Pacific as a regional concept isn\u2019t new and has been widely discussed in the policy community as a way to link the Indian and Pacific oceans, and give greater recognition to the role of India and Indonesia in any regional strategic formulation. But the Indo-Pacific concept took on more life and meaning with\u00a0the Trump administration\u2019s adoption of it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a leader of ASEAN, Indonesia is uncomfortable with the US approach, seeing it as an exclusionary and aimed at isolating China. Jakarta sees the \u2018Quad\u2019\u2014comprising the United States, Japan, Australia and India\u2014as a potential strategic coalition of \u2018outside\u2019 powers without ASEAN\u2019s involvement. In response, Jakarta has been developing an ASEAN-centred Indo-Pacific strategy that is more consistent with ASEAN\u2019s principles of inclusiveness (including towards China) and consensus-building, and its stress on a\u00a0normative, political and diplomatic<\/a>\u2014rather than an excessively military\u2013strategic\u2014approach.<\/p>\n

The differences are captured in the terminology used by the two countries to articulate their Indo-Pacific visions. Briefly, the US wants a \u2018free\u2019 and \u2018open\u2019 Indo-Pacific, echoing\u00a0the wording used <\/a>by Japanese Prime Minister\u00a0Shinzo Abe, but with\u00a0a more overt military\u2013strategic orientation<\/a>. In comparison, Indonesia seeks an \u2018open\u2019 and \u2018inclusive\u2019 Indo-Pacific. The US doesn\u2019t use \u2018inclusive\u2019, while Indonesia doesn\u2019t use \u2018free\u2019.<\/p>\n

The US idea of a \u2018free\u2019 Indo-Pacific identifies domestic political openness and good governance as key ingredients\u2014putting it at odds with China\u2014while Jakarta\u2019s stress on \u2018inclusivity\u2019 implies that its policy is not meant to isolate China. India seems to be\u00a0taking a middle path<\/a>, calling for a \u2018free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific Region\u2019.<\/p>\n

The outlook upholds the vision put forth by Jakarta, whose interest in the Indo-Pacific idea is driven by President Joko Widodo\u2019s goal of turning Indonesia into a \u2018maritime fulcrum\u2019. \u2018The Outlook is intended to be inclusive in terms of ideas and proposals.\u2019 There\u2019s no mention of any country or major power, not just China and the US, but also Japan, India and Russia. It avoids any strategic language or tone and there are no military aspects to the document.<\/p>\n

Rather, it is more consistent with ASEAN\u2019s \u2018comprehensive security\u2019 approach with an emphasis on \u2018implementing existing and exploring other ASEAN priority areas of cooperation, including maritime cooperation, connectivity, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and economic and other possible areas of cooperation\u2019.<\/p>\n

The outlook strongly recalls the traditional \u2018ASEAN way\u2019 of avoiding legalistic institutionalisation\u2014it\u2019s meant to be a \u2018guide\u2019, not a legal document or treaty.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the outlook stresses reliance on existing ASEAN norms and mechanisms, such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the East Asia Summit. It\u2019s \u2018not aimed at creating new mechanisms or replacing existing ones; rather, it is an Outlook intended to enhance ASEAN\u2019s Community building process and to strengthen and give new momentum for existing ASEAN-led mechanisms to better face challenges and seize opportunities arising from the current and future regional and global environments\u2019. This reflects a determination to preserve ASEAN centrality in the development of Indo-Pacific architecture and counter any linking of the Indo-Pacific to a balance-of-power approach.<\/p>\n

Some Western observers dismiss the outlook\u2019s importance because it doesn\u2019t target China specifically or carry compliance measures, but this criticism misses the point: this is how ASEAN has been doing its business since its founding. ASEAN\u2019s main roles in regional security have been in norm-setting and confidence-building, rather than in exercising hard power or conflict-resolution.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s disappointing is not the document, but the gap between how the West sees ASEAN and how ASEAN sees itself. ASEAN is bound to disappoint those who would like to see it act like a great power in a classical concert of powers. That is not what ASEAN is or what it will ever be.<\/p>\n

While the outlook is written in typical \u2018ASEAN speak\u2019, it doesn\u2019t blank out the crucial issues and principles at stake in current maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The document stresses \u2018cooperation for peaceful settlement of disputes; promoting maritime safety and security, and freedom of navigation and overflight; \u2026 sea piracy, robbery and armed robbery against ships at sea; and the like\u2019.<\/p>\n

The outlook avoids the term \u2018free\u2019, which China sees as being directed against it. At the same time, it contains references to \u2018freedom of navigation\u2019, which is Washington\u2019s area of emphasis. ASEAN is\u00a0playing its classic role as a regional consensus-builder<\/a>, which is all the more essential at a time of rising bilateral tensions between the US and China.<\/p>\n

In the final analysis, the outlook is an act of diplomatic and political assertion by ASEAN. ASEAN is telling the world that it has its own way of developing the Indo-Pacific idea\u2014previously pushed by outside powers such as Japan, Australia, India and the US\u2014and that it won\u2019t let outside powers dominate the \u2018discourse\u2019 on the Indo-Pacific. The outlook also legitimises the role of\u00a0Indonesia<\/a>, possibly the only Southeast Asian country with the size, geography and potential power to stand up to China and the US, or indeed to all major powers. This is what\u2019s critical to the preservation of ASEAN centrality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After more than a year of deliberation, ASEAN adopted the \u2018ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific\u2019 on 23 June. The outlook then got an airing at the ASEAN Regional Forum meetings in Bangkok. The document \u2018provides …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":998,"featured_media":49724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[189,56,8,2328],"class_list":["post-49722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asean","tag-indo-pacific","tag-indonesia","tag-quad"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy ASEAN\u2019s Indo-Pacific outlook matters | 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\/why-aseans-indo-pacific-outlook-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why ASEAN\u2019s Indo-Pacific outlook matters | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After more than a year of deliberation, ASEAN adopted the \u2018ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific\u2019 on 23 June. 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