Events

PROGRAMME

ABSTRACT

Each year, the diplomatic activity of ASEAN attracts a stream of world leaders, diplomats and funding bodies. While international interest in Southeast Asia continues to grow, critics often accuse ASEAN of doing very little. The consensus-driven approach, which underpins what has been described as ‘the ASEAN way’, is both credited with guaranteeing ASEAN’s success, and blamed for its inability to confront internal rivalry or comment critically on the domestic politics of member states. Recent scholarship, seeking to explain ASEAN’s longevity, points to the organisation’s aspirational quality. A proliferation of meetings and working groups underpin a ritual-and-ceremony heavy calendar that stresses the value of relationship building, and more broadly, the ASEAN ideal of cooperation and mutual support. This talk will explore these criticisms, but ultimately clarify why ASEAN remains such a potent regional body and the pre-eminent partner for those who engage with (and within) the Asia Pacific. While ASEAN’s approach to change may be cautious and slow, its continued ability to attract global powers denotes a degree regional power that is difficult to ignore.

Chris Chaplin and Matt Phillips are both academics and analysts based at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As the UK government plans to leave the European Union, a close relationship with ASEAN has become a priority. As experts on Indonesia and Thailand respectively. Chris and Matt have worked to support the UK government understanding both in terms of how ASEAN works, and how it approaches international partners. This roundtable is intended to function as an explorative seminar that tests some of their current thinking.

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

Chris Chaplin is a Senior Research Analyst, specialising on Southeast Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Prior to joining Chris was a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) and a Fellow at the London School of Economics. He received his PhD from the Department of Sociology, University in Cambridge in 2016. Chris has written extensively on Islamic activism, social movements, and postcolonial citizenship in Southeast Asia, with particular geographical attention to Indonesia for a variety of academic journals and news outlets. 

Matt Phillips is a Lecturer in Modern Asian History at Aberystwyth University, and a Senior Analyst at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, working on mainland Southeast Asia. He received his PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and has since written extensively on Thai history and politics and contributed to international publications including the New York Times. Matthew has previously worked for the BBC World Service.

Deepak Nair is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore. His research draws on and contributes to a growing landscape of sociological theorizing in the field of International Relations (IR). His research interests include international political sociology, international practice theory, diplomacy studies, international bureaucracy, ethnography in IR, and the international politics of Southeast Asia.

A veteran diplomat, student of philosophy, and celebrated author, Kishore Mahbubani is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute. Mahbubani is also a former President of the UN Security Council (Jan 2001, May 2002) and the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (2004-2017). Mahbubani writes and speaks prolifically on the rise of Asia, geopolitics and global governance. His eight books and articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times and Foreign Affairs have earned him global recognition as “the muse of the Asian century.” He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2019. More information can be found on www.mahbubani.net.

REGISTRATION

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