The grouping’s members have diverse political, economic and legal systems and are at different levels of economic development

FOR the Asean member states, the benchmark of successful regionalism has been Asean’s effectiveness in bringing the region closer.

Asean has provided a forum for closer consultations while promoting the habit of cooperation.

The lack of intra-state conflict in a region derided as a cockpit of war and the Balkans of the East during the 1950s and 1960s has been credited to Asean’s success in moulding a greater regional consciousness among policymakers.

Still, in the first 40 years of its existence – from 1967 to 2007 – only 30 per cent of Asean agreements were implemented. I was therefore sceptical of the impact of the Asean Charter when it was adopted in November 2007.

…The writer is Distinguished Fellow and Bakrie Professor of South-east Asia Policy at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.