Opportunities and Challenges for U.S.-ASEAN Engagement
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel attends the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting – Plus in Jerudong, Brunei in August 2013 [Official DoD photo by Sgt. Aaron Hostutler USMC, 8/29/13]
The U.S. has a strong role to play with ASEAN nations to support security in Southeast Asia:
Continue support for Code of Conduct to reduce maritime tensions: Maritime and territorial disputes between multiple nations in the South China Sea have major implications for regional stability. Southeast Asian nations have been pursuing a Code of Conduct to reduce tensions since 2002, but that process has been frustrated by diplomatic hang-ups, especially foot-dragging on behalf of the Chinese who claim virtually all of the South China Sea. In his most recent trip to Asia, Secretary of State John Kerry explained, “It’s not an exaggeration to say that the region’s future stability will depend in part on the success and the timeliness of the effort to produce a code of conduct…The longer the process takes, the longer tensions will simmer and the greater the chance of a miscalculation by somebody that could trigger a conflict. That is in nobody’s interest.” [John Kerry via Reuters, 2/17/14]
Facilitate security cooperation between Southeast Asian nations: The need for security cooperation between ASEAN member states is an important component of responding to increased Chinese assertiveness in the region, most recently with China’s confrontation with the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal. Prashanth Parameswaran explains, “Coordination for maritime security ASEAN claimants need to redouble efforts to foster greater coordination between the various military and civilian government agencies considered maritime stakeholders. This is crucial not only to promote interagency cooperation in the complex domain of maritime security that touches several areas from fisheries to immigration, but to formulate an integrated approach to rival China’s adroit strategy of using a variety of nonmilitary instruments to enforce its claims in a calibrated way, including coast-guard vessels. Efforts by the Philippines and Brunei to establish national coast-surveillance programs are a useful step, as are more collective endeavors like a seminar on interagency coordination held in October 2013 between Vietnam and the United States.” [Prashanth Parameswaran, 3/18/14]
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief capabilities: Ernest Bower of the Center for International and Strategic Studies explains, “Tragically, the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 (MH370) demonstrates the very real need for greater coordination among regional militaries, intelligence agencies, and ministries of foreign affairs and defense,” whose spotty cooperation has inhibited the search for the aircraft. “Forums such as the East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) offer the United States, ASEAN, and other partners the opportunity to develop regional standards and to practice and prepare for emergencies so coordinated efforts can be employed in real time in such areas as search and rescue (SAR) and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). The United States has been quick to support Malaysia during the MH370 crisis and was the decisive partner to turn the tide in the emergency response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last year.”
Retired naval officers, including former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead, explain that U.S. contributions to such efforts, “expand U.S. access and influence, improve foreign opinion of the United States, and strengthen relationships with other countries and partner organizations.” [Ernest Bower, 3/21/14. Gary Roughead et al., 3/13]
Urgent need for better crisis management mechanisms. To avoid the risk of unintended conflict and unnecessary crisis, nations in Southeast Asia, including China, and the United Sates should support better emergency procedures. Prashanth Parameswaran explains the need for better “crisis-management mechanisms and scenario-planning. For instance, bilateral-security hotlines can be one useful instrument in managing crises if they are properly resourced, structured and utilized. While discussions have already begun at the regional level, they will likely take time to advance and this should not prevent countries from establishing security hotlines on a bilateral basis, as Malaysia and the Philippines are now reportedly considering.” Deeper, more institutionalized crisis management systems should also be pursued, such as agreed upon procedures in the case of maritime confrontations between vessels. [Prashanth Parameswaran, 3/18/14]
Emphasizing economic policy key to success of strategic rebalancing. Leading conservatives in Congress argue the administration’s policy of strategic rebalancing is failing because it does not emphasize enough military power. But these criticisms under-value the role of diplomatic and economic tools in rebalancing, what then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called “emphasizing the crucial part that diplomacy, trade, and development will play in our engagement.” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently made the same argument about needing to emphasize diplomacy and economic policy. In that respect, the top priority remains the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the economic agreement under negotiation between 12 Pacific economies, including the U.S. The agreement would cover $1.8 trillion or 37 percent of total U.S. exports, include economies that collectively invest $620 billion in the American economy (23 percent of total foreign investment) and include foreign markets that support 4 million jobs here in the United States, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Other non-military priorities for strategic rebalancing include the Law of the Sea Treaty, which remains critical to America’s ability to play a constructive role in helping to manage the region’s disputes. [Leon Panetta, 6/2/12. U.S. Trade Representative, 12/10/13]
