ASEAN Centrality: A Regional De-escalation Tool Contributing to the Maintenance of Peace and Stability in East Asia

Abstract

The notion of ASEAN Centrality has been debated by many scholars and despite that the concept remains under-operationalised without a clear meaning. Nonetheless, scholars have discussed the concept thoroughly from different perspectives in an attempt to showcase ASEAN’s important role as a regional organisation in East Asia. In this chapter, the author attempts to supplement the existing descriptions of ASEAN Centrality from the perspective of ASEAN’s conflict management capabilities. The author argues that ASEAN through its centrality has contributed immensely to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region by playing an important role as a regional de-escalator in being able to manage diplomatic tensions and disagreements between ASEAN member states and its external partners. The author evaluates various case studies and explores how ASEAN through its centrality has been able to perform its role effectively in regional de-escalation which has directly contributed to the maintenance of peace and stability in East Asia. Some of the case studies elaborated to verify ASEAN’s role in regional de-escalations are the Cambodian conflict, the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, the South China Sea dispute, inter-Korean relations, the US-China relations as well as other relevant issues in the region.