Examining ASEAN’s effectiveness in managing South China Sea disputes

Le, Hu

doi:10.1080/09512748.2021.1934519

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Nor is there much evidence of any significant progress on these matters, and even when some changes have occurred, they have resulted in only modest outcomes. For instance, the different economies in the region remain competitive and externally oriented (with respect to ASEAN), rather than complementary and cooperative [13]; conflicts over border demarcations have resulted in little resolution, for instance, the border issues relating to Indonesia and Malaysia [14] and Thailand-Cambodia; problems with border minorities have not been resolved [15]; human rights developments have been stymied [16]; and democratic development has been stalled [17,18]. If ASEAN is to explain itself as a political body, it needs to address why it has been incapable of resolving such issues or unable to manage or develop its operations.…”

Section: The History and Background Of Aseanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosing Complex Organisations with Diverse Cultures—Part 2: Application to ASEAN

Rautakivi,

Yolles

2024

Systems

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In this paper, the second part of a two-part series, we explore the cultural stability of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The analytical framework adopted, formulated on a background of social cybernetics, uses Mindset Agency Theory (MAT) within a metacybernetic framework. Our exploration involves a thorough investigation of signs pointing to cultural instability, identification of potential pathologies, and the provision of insights into the underlying dynamics within ASEAN. Expanding on the theoretical foundation established in the first part, we explore the notion that regional organisations (ROs) like ASEAN can be viewed as complex adaptive systems with agency. Heterogeneity of RO membership can be both beneficial and detrimental, especially when this delivers cultural diversity. If detrimental, pathologies can arise that affect both ROs’ institutional dynamics and their affiliated regional organisations, a significant interest of this paper. In response to certain cybernetic aspects introduced in part 1 of the research, MAT is shown to be a specialised framework imbued with systemic and reflexive elements. Through this, the analysis sheds light on how an agency’s mindset connects with its behaviour and performance. ROs exhibit coherence in their operations when they successfully achieve adaptive goals. ROs, as agencies defined through a population of state agents, have mutual relationships and are encouraged to pursue shared regional objectives, such as economic growth, social welfare, security, and democracy. However, in highly diverse cultural environments, this poses unique challenges to achieving and maintaining cultural stability. The analysis scrutinises ASEAN’s behaviour, relating it to manifestations of cultural instability, and deduces conditions that encompass an inability to undertake collective action, covert narcissism, and a lack of authority. Employing MAT as a diagnostic tool to comprehend ASEAN’s intricate nature, the paper concludes with practical recommendations aimed at enhancing ASEAN’s cultural health and sustainability. The ultimate vision is to foster a more integrated and proactive regional entity.

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Section: The History and Background Of Aseanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagnosing Complex Organisations with Diverse Cultures—Part 2: Application to ASEAN

Rautakivi,

Yolles

2024

Systems

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“…These studies, however, lacked a more in-depth evaluation of the specific processes and tactics used by Vietnam to manage and mitigate risk. According to L. Hu, the SCS disputes between China and Southeast Asian claimant nations (Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei) are a matter of great worry for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations due to several factors [6].…”

Section: Empirical Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

US-China global competition and dilemma for Vietnam's strategic choices in the South China Sea conflict

Cuong,

Chelabi,

Anjum

et al. 2024

Heritage and Sustainable Development

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The South China Sea (SCS) conflict has become a critical factor for regional peace and development with growing geopolitical competition between China and the USA. To face the rising threat of China, the study argues that the balance of power theory is relevant to explain why Vietnam attempts to strengthen strategic alliances with the USA, Russia, EU, and India to balance against the rising threat of China in SCS. However, this theory is not able to explain why Vietnam has a bandwagoning policy toward China at the same time. To fill the gap of the previous studies, this study endeavors to put forward the point that as geopolitical rivalry between the two superpowers, the United States and China, intensifies, Vietnam is put in a predicament of balancing the economic and the political choices against the choices of taking a neutral stand against the assertiveness of China in the SCS. Further, the alternative traditional balance options with ASEAN, and Russia are not sufficiently effective for Vietnam to balance against China since the position of both ASEAN and Russia is much weaker than China. This study also suggests that the support of the USA, EU, and its alliance for Vietnam’s position creates unbearable costs for China’s aggressive behaviors in SCS. By using the mathematical and logical framework, the study suggests that Vietnam tends to adopt a mixed strategy (balancing, bandwagoning, neutrality) in dealing with China’s threats.

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“…ASEAN promotes its successful intentions of improving the quality of life in the region with people-centred opportunities that collectively deliver and fully realise a capacity for human development, and this includes areas such as [59]: Unfortunately, ASEAN is an operationally weak organisation [60], and there is little evidence that significant movement has occurred concerning any of these issues, and where some movement has occurred, actions have been quite modest. For instance: the different economies in the region remain competitive and externally oriented (with respect to ASEAN), rather than complementary and cooperative [61]; conflicts over border demarcations have resulted in little resolution, for instance concerning border issues concerning Indonesia and Malaysia [62], and Thailand-Cambodia; problems with border minorities have not been resolved [63]; human rights developments have been stymied [64]; and democratic development has been stalled [65,66]. If ASEAN were to explain itself as a political body, it needs to address why it has been incapable of resolving such issues, or unable to manage or develop its operations.…”

Section: Asean As a Regional Organisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture, Mindset and Functionality in Regional Organisations – A Study on ASEAN and the European Union

Rautakivi¹,

Yolles²

2023

Preprint

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Regional organisations (ROs) are important in that they can enable states in their regions to pros-per and develop for improvement. Interest here lies in the European Union (EU) and the Associa-tion of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Their political development involves complex process-es for collective actions involving ingroup member RO states. To explore development, we firstly examine the rise of both the EU and ASEAN. The literature gives some attention to the behaviour-alist political approach to explain developmental differences using social organisation theory, often in terms of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft paradigm of Tönnies. However, here we adopt a social psychology approach that distinguishes between operative structure (which directly determines behaviour), and substructure (housing normative personality deemed to be responsible for behav-ioural imperatives). This enables a relationship to be made between the Tönnies paradigm and the Collectivism-Individualism paradigm of Triandis. The theoretical approach adopted involves a complex adaptive systems model deriving from metacybernetics, and this also delivers Mindset Agency Theory as a qualitative methodology. Consistent with the general view, it is shown that the EU is more or less a coherent rational organisation, while ASEAN is more idealistic delivering pragmatic paradox. In particular, ASEAN is frequently descried as an organisation with contra-dictions, and for this reason its pathologies are explored in some detail

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Examining ASEAN’s effectiveness in managing South China Sea disputes

Cited by 20 publications

References 46 publications

Diagnosing Complex Organisations with Diverse Cultures—Part 2: Application to ASEAN

Diagnosing Complex Organisations with Diverse Cultures—Part 2: Application to ASEAN

US-China global competition and dilemma for Vietnam's strategic choices in the South China Sea conflict

Culture, Mindset and Functionality in Regional Organisations – A Study on ASEAN and the European Union

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