8 - Conclusion: Beyond the ASEAN Way

Summary

This study began with a narrative of how ASEAN has evolved in its management of regional security since its establishment in 1967. In following ASEAN's journey, we went through the different phases of ASEAN's development as a regional organization, starting from its periods of consolidation, expansions and what could be described as its current phase of reconsolidation. In doing so, we examined ASEAN's responses to periods of crises and the various challenges that had emerged. The purpose was to study ASEAN's mechanisms in the way it had managed challenges and threats to regional security. As we tracked these periods, we also explored the changes that have occurred in these mechanisms and went on to identify the relevant actors, beyond the member states of ASEAN, that had been instrumental in the way these mechanisms have evolved further in the nearly four decades that this association has been in existence. Finally, we took note of the more recent regional developments and examined how these could have significant implications on ASEAN's mechanisms.

Having gone through the panoramic and colourful history of ASEAN's journey and having examined its various attempts to respond and remain relevant despite crises and challenges, we now revisit the question stated in the introduction of this book: Is there something beyond the ASEAN way?

This book has argued that the ASEAN way has not been impervious to change. As ASEAN finds it way through periods of crises and continues to confront the many challenges ahead, ASEAN and its mechanisms — which we have defined as the processes, methods, and strategies employed to resolve or manage conflicts — have already been transformed beyond the narrow confines of the modalities associated with the ASEAN way. As we track in tandem the changes in the political and security landscape of the region, revealing the democratic transitions taking place in some member states, we are now witnessing a much more dynamic set of regional processes that are taking place in Southeast Asia.