Understanding the ASEAN-Australia summit

The ASEAN-Australia leaders’ summit in Melbourne offers the opportunity for Australia to embrace ASEAN’s ‘inclusive regionalism’ and the organisation’s centrality in mediating the Indo-Pacific struggle between the great powers.

Oxfam calls for climate action

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-Australia Special Summit commences this week in Melbourne and Oxfam is calling for the Australian government and other world leaders attending to ramp up ambition to tackle the climate crisis in the region.

We will not be assimilated

Fatalism is always intellectually fashionable. Plenty of intellectuals said the Cold War was unwinnable and Russia would crush Ukraine. Similarly, those who believe Asia – and Australia – will inevitably be dominated by China are similarly mistaken.

A special envoy to ASEAN?

Appointing a special envoy to ASEAN would free up more of Penny Wong’s time to devote to the Pacific and Southeast Asia, signalling Australia’s acknowledgement of the region’s importance.

The future of ASEAN is digital, but Australia crawls at a dial-up pace

In spite of Australia emphasising its need to engage with the Asia Pacific, its digital engagement with ASEAN still lags behind their advances.

Australia and Indonesia can strengthen ASEAN

Entering ASEAN would help Australia shape the future of South East Asia in concert with the fast growing democracy of Indonesia.

Australia’s anti-climactic ASEAN Summit

The ASEAN Summit in Sydney offered many words but little action. If Australia wants to make Southeast Asia the ‘strategic fulcrum’ of its Indo-Pacific strategy, it needs to look well beyond ASEAN as its means.

New paths or missteps at the ASEAN summit?

Anthony Milner charts the success and failures of the ASEAN summit in Sydney and argues that Australia must play the long game if we aren’t to face regional isolation as American dominance begins to fade.

Decoding the ASEAN declaration

As the ASEAN summit wraps up, the Sydney Declaration has subtly taken Australia’s relationship with its closest Asian neighbours into new territory after a diverse week of engagement from soccer to social entrepreneurs.

The future of ASEAN

Over five decades, ASEAN has helped to strengthen Southeast Asian political and economic relations, but important changes are required to ensure it remains relevant, including the addition of at least one more member state.