Time to ramp up ASEAN’s Indo-Pacifi c strategy – Tue, January 17 2023

The Indo-Pacific is becoming the most contested region in the world, particularly between the United States and China. It is not the Middle East or Europe, but it is here, in a vast land and maritime region flanked by two oceans, where tensions have been building as big and middle powers seek to protect their interests. The next great war could erupt here if countries behave recklessly.

Global security, and hence global prosperity, hinges on how these tensions play out in the coming years. Many countries have devised Indo-Pacific strategies, but since most are built in anticipation of possible conflict, the military buildup we have been seeing in the past few years has been fueling tensions.

One exception is the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific Outlook (AOIP) which has been gaining wider recognition as a viable basis upon which to build a new regional architecture that can bring all these countries together to discuss peace and prosperity through cooperation and development.