These are challenging times for the global economy and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which met over the weekend in Thailand. Forged during the turbulent 1960s, ASEAN has evolved from a group that sought to restore political stability in the region to an economic bloc, and now into a major player on [...]

Reconstructing ASEAN: Challenges for the 21st Century Ten years ago, Southeast Asia was still reeling from the Asian financial crisis of 1997, with millions of people impoverished, President Soeharto driven out of office, and ASEAN economies wrecked. The East Asian Miracle had been jolted, Asian values discredited, the ASEAN Way undermined. ASEAN’s reputation as a cohesive [...]

Indonesia may be outgrowing ASEAN By Barry Wain for The Straits Times This week’s Indonesian election was more than a personal triumph for the winner, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Consolidation one of the most remarkable political transformation in history, the election was a victory for the entire nation, the fourth most populous on the planet. In the space [...]

The nearest SEA Games will be hosted by Laos, a new ASEAN member, in December 2009, if I am not mistaken. I met a Filipino in a food stall, and she said that she has lost hope for Philippines team since it became the winner of SEA Games 2005, their first and last winning. Well, [...]