![]() ![]() One of the most pressing challenges to ASEAN cohesion is the Myanmar crisis. While other Southeast Asian states voted at the United Nations to condemn the invasion, they have avoided taking more robust stances. Meanwhile, the military junta that seized power in Myanmar in February 2021 has unsurprisingly been one of Russia’s staunchest supporters. Regional powers such as Vietnam (because of longstanding ties with Russia) and Indonesia (because of its foreign policy non-alignment principle) have taken restrained positions, whereas Singapore has openly condemned the invasion and imposed unilateral sanctions. Since 2022, diversity has also manifested in regional states’ positions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While relations among non-communist maritime states were more harmonious, they were still fraught with residual suspicion and mistrust, much of which took the form of sovereignty disputes stemming from decolonisation projects. ![]() Among the communist mainland states were Chinese and Soviet clients, at a time when the Sino–Soviet split was at its height. Yet the picture that emerges on closer inspection is far more complex. This division also assumed a geographical expression in terms of the divide between mainland (mostly communist) and maritime (non-communist) Southeast Asia. Geopolitically, these differences make the challenge of forging unity a particularly onerous task.ĭuring the Cold War, diversity manifested in the ideological division of Southeast Asia into communist and non-communist states. Yet diversity, divisions and disputes remain consequential features of the region that pose a significant threat to unity.ĭifferences in cultures, languages, religions, historical experiences, political systems and developmental pathways have shaped Southeast Asia as it stands today. Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the PacificĪs great power rivalry casts its long shadow over Southeast Asia, the imperative of regional unity grows more urgent.
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