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Is ASEAN Still Relevant?

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Is ASEAN Still Relevant?

Hoang Thi Ha, Ja Ian Chong, and Evan A. Laksmana discuss ASEAN’s regional role amid the Myanmar crisis and China-U.S. tensions.

The Myanmar coup has opened up a new front of debate about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its ability to response to urgent regional crises. Such questions are not new. The perennial challenge posed by the South China Sea disputes, and the deeper issue of growing China-U.S. rivalry, has critics wondering whether ASEAN can still function as a meaningful institution, or whether the days of ASEAN Centrality are numbered.

On April 19, Hoang Thi Ha, lead researcher for Political-Security Affairs at the ASEAN Studies Centre of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute; Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science and an associate research fellow with the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore; and Evan A. Laksmana, a political scientist and senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesia, joined a live webinar to discuss these questions.