Asean's regroup requires deep reforms

If Asean's 58 years thus far have been about resilience and playing a central organising role in promoting regional security and stability, its next decade will determine whether the Southeast Asian bloc can adapt and remain relevant.

- Thitinan Pongsudhirak

This file photo, dated Dec 2, 2018, shows a worker cycling past life-size portraits of the then 10 leaders of Asean at Lumpini Park in the capital. AFP

(AFP)

After the crises in Myanmar and along the Thai-Cambodian border, Asean's credibility has never been more in doubt. To regain its effectiveness as Southeast Asia's one and only agency, Asean needs to move away from the ritualistic diplomacy of mundane meetings to far-reaching reforms that chart new ways of making things work.

One immediate change would be to reduce summit frequency. Asean leaders currently meet twice a year, but this has turned into an exercise in ceremony rather than substance. The bloc should revert to a single annual summit — allowing more time for preparation, coordination, and followup. Camaraderie among Asean leaders should be promoted but bilaterally and minilaterally based on personal chemistry and mutual interests. These personal relationships can then complement and reinforce the broader group at the summit level.

What Asean needs now is not more communiqués, but more implementation. Fewer meetings could mean more focus — and perhaps more progress. For instance, the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar and the Thai-Cambodian ceasefire must be enforced, not just reaffirmed. Asean needs to ensure Myanmar's looming sham elections in December-January do not supersede the 5PC, whereas the Thai-Cambodian border requires actual Asean-wide peacekeepers, not just observers.