2 - Southeast Asian Security Challenges: A Strategic View from ASEAN

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since the end of the Cold War more than a decade ago, several dynamic new security measures have been introduced in Southeast Asia. The direction of these security measures neither alters the region's geo-political position and relations within the region, nor the region's relations with the external powers. It can be argued that despite the political problems faced by Indonesia and other Cold War's leftover regional conflicts such as the Aceh and Mindanao issues, Southeast Asia is relatively stable. Although the region faces the growing threats of Muslim terrorism, there have been so far no major inter-state conflicts. On the whole, outstanding bilateral issues have been negotiated and resolved amicably. Malaysia and Indonesia, for instance, managed to resolve their overlapping claims over Sipadan and Ligitan islands through the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Although the loss of Sipadan and Ligitan created political pressures on the Indonesian Government to protect the country's sovereignty and interest, relations between Indonesia and Malaysia are unaffected. Similarly, while other bilateral overlapping claims such as over Pedra Branca (Malaysia–Singapore) and Ambalat (Malaysia–Indonesia) arguably have created political tension, they have not aversely affected the relations between the conflicting parties. The reason for this political maturity among Asian states is their growing regional integration through ASEAN. ASEAN has ensured that the negotiating process continues.

Generally speaking, Southeast Asian countries, unlike those in East Asia, tend to have more co-operative inter-state relations because they share a common history of colonialism. The countries in Southeast Asia, except Thailand, were colonized by the European imperialist powers of Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France. Furthermore, unlike states in East Asia, the Southeast Asian countries, with the exception of Cambodia, were never invaded by their neighbours; nor did they have any serious conflict with each other. As most of the Southeast Asian countries had faced communist-led domestic insurgencies, their security concerns tend to revolve around domestic consolidation, stability, and regime survival.