Abstract
ASEAN’s 2003 Bali Concord II is commonly cited for its seminal role in setting forth the three pillars ASEAN Community: ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC); and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). Bali Concord II has imbued and defined subsequent key ASEAN cooperative frameworks, including its very Charter adopted in 2007. Often missed, however, is its significant perspective-changing contribution in the way ASEAN approaches the ever changing and deeply complex “internal-external nexus”. Namely, how ASEAN manages the reality of our time of issues that crosses national borders in terms of causes, impacts and, indeed solutions. The prevalence of issues that defy national solutions alone and demand instead cooperative partnership. The voluminous sets of ASEAN cooperation – within its three Community pillars – reflect ASEAN’s recognition of this reality, while remaining fully consistent in its time-honoured commitment to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States. Today, these hard-earned gains – the reconciling of seemingly conflicting principles – are at risk as headwinds abound, including divisions on how to respond to internal developments in its Member States having ramifications to the region as a whole. As it marks its 55th year, would ASEAN continue to prosper, or would it whither? How can ASEAN secure its Community amidst the complex internal-external nexus? Are the full potentials of the cooperative frameworks established as part of the ASEAN Community being fully utilised? What of the vision of an ASEAN adhering “to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms” as stipulated in its Charter?
This Roundtable is the second of a series on ASEAN by Dr Marty Natalegawa.
About the Speaker
Marty Natalegawa was appointed as Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on 1 July 2022.
Dr Natalegawa holds a D.Phil. from the Australian National University; an M.Phil. from University of Cambridge; and a BSc (Hons) from the London School of Economics.
Dr Natalegawa served as Foreign Minister of Indonesia (2009 – 2014). Previously, he served as Permanent Representative/Ambassador of Indonesia to the United Nations (UN); Ambassador to the UK and also to Ireland. Within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, among others, he served as Director General for ASEAN Cooperation and Director for International Organizations.
Within ASEAN, he has been instrumental in pushing for the ASEAN Community and was an early advocate of an ASEAN role in the Indo-Pacific through the concept of “dynamic equilibrium”. Throughout, including as Foreign Minister, he actively promoted the management and resolution of potential conflicts in the region.
Within the context of the UN, he served, among others, as President of the Security Council in November 2007 and led Indonesia’s delegation at numerous multilateral negotiations, both within the UN and beyond. He was instrumental in securing Indonesia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2012.
He served in the UNSG’s High Level Panel on Global Response to Health Crises and UN President of the General Assembly’s 72nd Session Team of External Advisors.
He is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation. He is also a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.
He is also presently Asia Society Policy Institute Distinguished Fellow; a member of the International Academic Advisory Committee of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; the Southeast Asia Advisory Board of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS – Washington, D.C.); Global Advisory Committee of the Jeju Forum; University of Western Australia’s Public Policy Institute Advisory Board; the Board of Directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa; and is a Prominent Research Scholar of the Bank of Indonesia Institute. He is also the Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Leaders Network (APLN) for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
He is the author of “Does ASEAN Matter? A view from Within” (ISEAS Publishing – 2018).
Dr Natalegawa has been cited as “one of the most respected foreign policy and international security thinkers of his generation, both within Indonesia, in South-east Asia, and in the broader Asia-Pacific region”.