Southeast Asia-US Relations: Hegemony or Hierarchy?

Misalucha, Charmaine G.

doi:10.1355/cs33-2c

“…There is also a susceptibility to narcissism and vanity. Hegemony, as a part of dominance, refers to the ascendency or domination in an RO agency of one of its agents over another and can be argued to be an alternative approach to hierarchy in regional governance, but, according to Misalucha [120], ASEAN hierarchy is projected as a benign hegemon, where dominant authority over others is applied in a benevolent or harmless way so that there exist multiple types of regional rule that provide a demonstration of ongoing efforts by agents towards building and maintaining deeper relations with each other.…”

Section: Asean Dispositional Personalitymentioning

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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“…There is also a susceptibility to narcissism and vanity. Hegemony, as a part of dominance, refers to the ascendency or domination in an RO agency of one of its agents over another, can be argued to be an alternative approach to hierarchy in regional governance, but according to Misalucha [310], ASEAN hierarchy is projected as a benign hegemon, so that there exist multiple types of regional rule that provides a demonstration of ongoing efforts by agents towards building and maintaining deeper relations with each other.…”

Section: Asean Personalitymentioning

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

show abstract

“…There is also a susceptibility to narcissism and vanity. Hegemony, as a part of dominance, refers to the ascendency or domination in an RO agency of one of its agents over another, can be argued to be an alternative approach to hierarchy in regional governance, but according to Misalucha [309], ASEAN hierarchy is projected as a benign hegemon, so that there exist multiple types of regional rule that provides a demonstration of ongoing efforts by agents towards building and maintaining deeper relations with each other.…”

Section: Asean Personalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rautakivi¹,

Yolles²

2023

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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

show abstract

Southeast Asia-US Relations: Hegemony or Hierarchy?

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

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

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

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

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

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