Managing Security Challenges in Southeast Asia
NBR Analysis vol. 13, no. 4

Managing Security Challenges in Southeast Asia

by Sheldon W. Simon
July 1, 2002

In this issue of the NBR Analysis, Sheldon W. Simon, professor of political science at Arizona State University, explores the official and unofficial efforts among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states to address security challenges in the region. The first article examines Track II diplomacy and the relationship between the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Councils for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). Dr. Simon concludes that if the ARF and CSCAP are to continue as significant organizations in managing Asian security, all the members must accept that Asia’s future is integrated among the subregions of the Northeast, Southeast, and South, modify the noninterference norm, and adopt consensus-based decision-making. In the second article, Dr. Simon addresses Southeast Asia’s response to the war on terrorism, including the prospects for multilateral cooperation.