Mapping ASEAN

David Carden

Description

For half a century, ten dynamic nations in Southeast Asia have been implementing a shared vision of economic growth, sustainable development, and cultural progress. Today, the economies of those nations are linked inextricably with the future of greater Asia as well as with the United States and the other Western countries. With authoritarianism and protectionism on the rise around the world and the catastrophic effects of global warming making action urgent, the nations that form the Association of Southeast Asia Nations are more relevant and under greater political and social stress than ever.

In these illuminating pages, David Carden, the first American resident ambassador to ASEAN, paints a vivid portrait of the regional and global cooperation required to meet today, and interconnected future. Carden takes us behind the scenes as the leaders of these ten nations work to prepare their countries and their region for the 21st century. Carden persuasively argues that the unfolding story of the ASEAN nations is a story for the entire worldthat we are all increasingly interdependent and confronted with the existential need to solve the same set of challenges.

Prologue

Introduction: ASEAN's Goals

Chapter 1: Pivoting to Asia

Chapter 2: Defining ASEAN'S Goals

Chapter 3: Financial Capital

Chapter 4: A Systems Approach to Achieving ASEAN's Goals

Chapter 5: People, Data, and Information

Chapter 6: Institutions, Governance, and Rule of Law

Chapter 7: Positioning ASEAN's Economy for Success

Chapter 8: Climate Change and the Environment

Chapter 9: Public Health and Disease

Chapter 10: China and the South China Sea

Chapter 11: ASEAN's Cities

Chapter 12: Four Freedoms

Chapter 13: The Role of the Private Sector

Chapter 14: A New Diplomacy

Conclusion

Postscript

Sujets

• International Relations
• Political Science
• UN
• Diplomacy
• South Asia
• United Nations
• Politics
• Development
• Trade
• Asian
• World
• Diplomatie (homonymie)
• Asia

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 10 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253045775
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

MAPPING
ASEAN
MAPPING
ASEAN
Achieving Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability in Southeast Asia
David L. Carden
Former United States Ambassador to ASEAN
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2019 by David L. Carden
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Carden, David L., author.
Title: Mapping ASEAN : achieving peace, prosperity, and sustainability in Southeast Asia / David L. Carden.
Other titles: Mapping Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019020821 (print) | LCCN 2019981331 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253045768 (hardback) | ISBN 9780253045751 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH : ASEAN. | Southeast Asia-Foreign relations. | Southeast Asia-Foreign economic relations. | Southeast Asia-Foreign relations-United States. | United States-Foreign relations-Southeast Asia.
Classification: LCC DS 525.8 . C 37 2019 (print) | LCC DS 525.8 (ebook) | DDC 337.1/59-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020821
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019981331
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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: ASEAN s Goals

1 Pivoting to Asia

2 Defining ASEAN s Goals

3 Financial Capital

4 A Systems Approach to Achieving ASEAN s Goals

5 People, Data, and Information

6 Institutions, Governance, and Rule of Law

7 Positioning ASEAN s Economy for Success

8 Climate Change and the Environment

9 Public Health and Disease

10 China and the South China Sea

11 ASEAN s Cities

12 Four Freedoms

13 The Role of the Private Sector

14 A New Diplomacy

Conclusion

Epilogue

Notes

Index

About the Author
Preface
IN MARCH 2011, I WAS CONFIRMED AS THE FIRST RESIDENT US ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, a multilateral organization comprising ten member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The period between my being informed of President Obama s decision to appoint me to the post and my arrival in the region was almost a year. During those months, I studied the region and went on with my life, which included spending time at my family s farm in Rhode Island. It was while I was at the farm that I confronted, in a small way, a challenge that foreshadowed those that would come to occupy my time in Southeast Asia.
The week before I was to travel to Jakarta to assume my post, I discovered we had a problem with a small pond on the farm. The pond, which was fed by a stream, had gone dry. Rainfall wasn t the problem. The late winter and early spring had been very wet. The pond filled with the rains, but it emptied shortly after they stopped. Something dramatic had happened, but I had no idea what it was. I called my neighbor and asked if he was having a similar experience. He was. His pond also had disappeared. I invited him over to discuss the situation. We walked back to the grass-and-weed-filled depression that had been my family s pond. After a few moments he turned to me and said, Someone built a road.
He was right. In the late winter a local farmer had built a raised road through the marsh that once had fed both of our ponds. The farmer told my neighbor he had gotten approval from the town s officials. We were doubtful. But even if he had, the town s decision could not have been informed by the facts; or, if it was, the facts didn t matter to those who had made the decision. Perhaps the farmer thought he was doing a good thing. Who could disagree? The old road he had used to get his produce to market was not convenient. Going through the marsh was more direct. Of course he could have included culverts in the road to allow water to continue migrating to the stream, but he probably didn t think of doing so. And even if he had, either he didn t care who or what was hurt, or he decided that he wasn t going to pay to protect those downstream. Chances are he never asked the right questions of someone who would have known why he shouldn t have built the road or, if he did, why he should have built it differently.

The result was an easier route to the markets for his produce and less water to the stream and our ponds. But there were other consequences as well. The disappearance of the pond affected wildlife that depended on it for food and water. Of course the fish died, which meant water birds such as egrets no longer came to the farm. More mosquitoes were breeding in the marsh because its flow of water had been eliminated. But there were fewer mosquitoes at the farm, and so the populations of mosquito-eating species such as barn swallows declined. The frogs also died or migrated to the marsh. The deer stopped coming to the pond to drink. So, too, did other animals. In another age the mill downstream would have been silenced, but it had ceased operations long ago. All of this and much more happened because one farmer had built a road.
Some might say that the changes at our farm were of little importance. After all, we no longer depend on fish and wildlife from the property for our food. Nor are the swallows, fisher cats, egrets, deer, or other wildlife essential to our existence. This may or may not be true. But either way, it misses the point. Too often we do things that have consequences we don t consider or imagine, and we don t know the trade-offs we are accepting when we do what we do. The roads, walls, and dams we build, both real and metaphorical, can have unexpected, unintended, and catastrophic consequences. Acting in ways that are unmindful of what it takes to conserve the world risks everything upon which we depend. This truth gives us more than enough reason to heed Wendell Berry s admonition to do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.
During the almost three years I was at my post, I saw firsthand that ASEAN s people and resources were being impacted by a multitude of forces. Some of the forces were known, but many were not. My time in the region taught me that if ASEAN is to realize its goals, it will be necessary to learn what is connected to what. It will be necessary to see the region as a collection of interlocking systems. That is what I set out to do. This book is my effort to share what I learned.
Acknowledgments
THE US MISSION TO THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN Nations (USASEAN) owes its success during the time I was ambassador to the mission s remarkable staff, which grew from four to thirteen during my tenure. A special thanks go to my deputy, Josh Cartin, who rightly is recognized as being among the State Department s best and brightest. He was a force multiplier for whatever the mission tried to do. The same can be said of Dr. Montira Pongsiri, whom I hired to be the mission s science advisor. I have been told she was the first actual scientist to serve in such a role in any US embassy or mission in American diplomatic history. Clare Orvis, a first-term Foreign Service officer, was extraordinary, as was Kent Mullen, her successor. Their excitement in doing something unexpected and new was infectious. John Krotzer gave the mission an excellent start in the uses of public diplomacy, and Frank Pelekai enabled us to work more closely with our military colleagues, who engaged deeply on helping the region manage nontraditional security risks. If it were not for my personal assistant, Rene Stein, the days would have been less productive, and my ability to move around the region would have been impossible. And then there was Fithya Findie, our Indonesian guide and friend, who is among the most remarkable young women I ever have known. My diplomatic security staff, drivers, and residential staff and the Indonesian police force kept me safe and provided all that I needed in order to do what I had been sent to the region to do. I owe everything we were able to accomplish to all of them and to others I do not have room to mention here.
I also want to thank my wonderful colleagues at the US embassy to Indonesia in Jakarta. They were kind and helpful as we at USASEAN launched the mission. I owe special debts of gratitude to Ambassador Scot Marciel, Ambassador Bob Blake, Ambassador Ted Osius, and Deputy Chief of Mission Kristen Bauer.
I also want to recognize and thank my wonderful and informed diplomatic and governmental colleagues in the ten ASEAN countries, who worked tirelessly to help reach ASEAN s goals of a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable Southeast Asia. Foremost among them were the ambassadors to ASEAN from its member states: the Committee of Permanent Representatives, more commonly known as the CPR. They are the real experts in the region, and they serve a vital role in pursuing ASEAN s goals. The ambassadors of the Dialogue Partners to the association were no less capable and engaged. All became my friend