Different Interests Explain Different Proposals: The Contestation of Indo-Pacific Cooperation Framework between ASEAN and the US

Abstract

The rise of China that goes along with strategic shifts around the Indian and the Pacific Ocean has started a new stage of major power contestation recently. ASEAN which acts as a host in Southeast Asia has certain stands to deal with the challenges and opportunities presented by the competition. On the other hand, the US Government with its global interests will never ever allow this region to fall into China’s influence. Simultaneously, both ASEAN and the US have the same approach in this situation to utilize the framework of Indo-Pacific cooperation that is definitively open to any explication in order to gain advantages resulted from the global interaction over the region. Nevertheless, their perceptions on the matter of defining the cooperative framework of Indo-Pacific are apparently diverse. Hence, this paper attempts to analyze the rationale of ASEAN and the US development of the Indo-Pacific cooperative concept based on their respective strategic assessment. This paper argues that the distinctive interests and insight of threats from ASEAN and the US toward the rise of China as well as major power contestation in the region are being the two main factors in their different perceptions on the concept of Indo-Pacific cooperative framework.

Indo-Pasifik dalam perspektif geopolitik dan geostrategi

“…Kerjasama tersebut dilakukan dengan kegiatan multilateral latihan, berbagi informasi, dan patroli bersama, telah dilaksanakan dalam kemitraan dengan Korea Selatan, Australia, Selandia Baru, Indonesia, Jepang, Filipina, Vietnam, serta Malaysia (Michel & Passarelli, 2014). Interaksi antar negara yang tersaji di kawasan tersebut, salah satunya dipengaruhi oleh keterlibatan negara-negara besar yang memiliki kepentingan dan kebijakan global (Yunanto & Samhudi, 2019). Kondisi tersebut berkonsekuensi pada dinamika lingkungan strategis, seperti dinamika wilayah maritim Indo-Pasifik yang tidak lagi didominasi oleh satu negara adidaya tetapi sedang dibentuk oleh beberapa kekuatan besar (Purnama, 2017).…”

The Influence of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework on Peace Stability in The ASEAN Region

“…On the other hand,Yunanto and Samhudi (2019) research, entitled; "Different Interests Explain Different Proposals: The Contestation of Indo-Pacific Cooperation Framework between ASEAN and the US" presents that China's rise, in line with strategic shifts around the Indian and Pacific Oceans, has recently initiated a new stage of great power contestation. ASEAN, which hosts Southeast Asian countries, has a certain attitude to face the challenges and opportunities presented by the competition.…”

“…However, their perceptions on defining the Indo-Pacific cooperation framework are diverse. Therefore,Yunanto and Samhudi (2019) attempts to analyze the rationale of ASEAN and the US in developing the concept of Indo-Pacific cooperation based on their respective strategic assessments. The paper argues that the different interests and threat insights of ASEAN and the US towards China's rise and great power contestation in the region are the two main factors for their different perceptions of the Indo-Pacific cooperation framework concept.…”