This article is used in an on-line teaching course of Southeast Asian Studies. This course is offered only to a group of wonderful students of Lodi High School, Wisconsin, USA.

1. 1
ASEAN
is
key
to
'Asian
century'
By
Parag
Khanna,
special
for
CNN
August
15,
2013
-­‐-­‐
Updated
1254
GMT
(2054
HKT)
Editor's
note:
Parag
Khanna
is
a
Senior
Research
Fellow
at
the
New
America
Foundation
and
Senior
Fellow
at
the
Singapore
Institute
of
International
Affairs.
His
books
include
"The
Second
World,"
"How
to
Run
the
World,"
and
"Hybrid
Reality."
(CNN)
-­‐-­‐
Over
the
past
year
I've
revisited
a
host
of
Southeast
Asian
countries
I
first
began
traveling
in
more
than
a
decade
ago.
The
region's
progress
has
been
remarkable
both
in
terms
of
overall
economic
growth
and
the
promising
opening
of
formerly
isolated
nations
like
Myanmar.
With
China's
slowing
growth
and
rising
wages,
investors
and
exporters
are
searching
for
new
long-­‐term
opportunities
and
sites
of
production.
The
time
of
the
Association
of
Southeast
Asian
Nations
(ASEAN)
has
come.
Last
month
in
Laos,
I
met
a
Malay-­‐Laotian
couple
with
modest
backgrounds
who
met
while
on
fellowships
in
Japan.
After
their
respective
graduate
degrees,
they
reunited
in
Vientiane
where
they
advise
government
agencies,
donors
and
NGOs.
Their
cross-­‐border
mobility
is
a
symbol
of
an
entire
new
generation
of
upwardly
progressive
Southeast
Asians
who
view
their
success
as
intimately
connected
to
the
broader
region
rather
than
their
smaller
home
nations
alone.
While
much
attention
is
paid
to
President
Xi
Jinping's
articulation
of
a
"China
Dream,"
quietly
an
"ASEAN
Dream"
is
also
being
born.
While
obviously
far
from
integrated
in
the
ways
the
European
Union
is,
ASEAN
now
has
a
momentum
that
Europe's
regional
project
lacks.
Despite
their
historical
differences
and
rivalries,
ASEAN
countries
have
been
pushing
forward
rapidly
with
cross-­‐border
investments,
commercial
integration,
and
intra-­‐regional
trade
that
has
kept
them
growing
fast
-­‐-­‐
averaging
more
than
5%
-­‐-­‐
even
as
the
major
export
markets
like
Europe
lose
steam.
With
about
600
million
people,
ASEAN
has
only
half
of
India's
population
but
already
a
larger
GDP.
Research
firm
IHS
projects
that
ASEAN's
GDP
will
reach
$4.7
trillion
in
2020,
not
far
off
where
Japan
is
today.

2. 2
Strategic
location
ASEAN
countries
have
strategic
geography
on
their
side
as
well.
The
region
forms
the
crossroads
of
China
and
India,
with
deep
infrastructural
links
re-­‐emerging
gradually
through
Myanmar.
It
is
also
the
main
conduit,
via
the
Straits
of
Malacca,
for
most
of
the
world's
oil
flows
between
the
Near
East
and
Far
East.
Now
is
the
time
for
ASEAN
to
move
from
size
to
coherence.
Over
the
past
50
years,
Southeast
Asia
has
experienced
colonial
liberation,
the
traumatic
Vietnam
War,
internal
rivalries
between
Indonesia
and
Malaysia,
various
forms
of
strongman
rule,
and
diplomatic
self-­‐isolation
through
non-­‐alignment.
Today
the
region
can
be
considered
largely
stable
save
for
the
simmering
South
China
Sea
dispute.
This
is
ASEAN's
chance
to
assert
its
collective
voice,
with
American
backing,
vis-­‐à-­‐vis
China
and
ensure
that
no
single
power
dominates
these
crucial
waters.
The
same
applies
to
the
issue
of
China's
rampant
upstream
damming
of
the
Mekong
River,
which
threatens
the
stability
of
downstream
flows
on
which
ASEAN's
heavily
agricultural
nations
depend.
Continued
economic
integration
is
also
a
strategic
imperative.
ASEAN
is
expected
to
launch
an
Economic
Community
(EAC)
by
2015
that
can
either
boost
the
region's
growth
potential
or
reveal
deeper
protectionist
firewalls
in
both
strong
and
weak
economies.
As
much
as
Vietnam
and
Thailand
stand
to
gain
from
even
greater
access
to
Myanmar,
Cambodia,
and
Laos,
a
community
worth
its
name
needs
a
vision
to
help
develop
its
poorest
members.
The
top
priority
both
to
promote
integration
and
assist
weaker
ASEAN
nations
must
be
infrastructure
investment.
Besides
Singapore,
which
has
already
become
a
first
world
city-­‐state,
only
Vietnam
and
Malaysia
have
significantly
invested
in
nationwide
infrastructure.
Coupled
with
significant
political
and
regulatory
reforms,
their
second
wave
is
under
way.
Other
major
ASEAN
countries
such
as
Indonesia,
Thailand
and
the
Philippines
are
finally
ramping
up
in
terms
of
allocating
greater
shares
of
the
national
budget
and
overall
GDP
to
infrastructure.
Crucial
gateway
Far
too
often
flooding
and
other
mishaps
take
critical
sectors
of
their
economies
offline.
Indonesia
is
now
focused
on
roads,
Thailand
on
railways,
and
the
Philippines
on
ports.
If
they
execute
on
these
critical
projects,
the
current
growth
rates
will
be
far
more
resilient
in
the
years
ahead.
Furthermore,
with
their
high
savings

3. 3
rates,
dynamic
private
sectors,
and
growing
interest
from
international
markets,
much
more
indigenous
and
foreign
capital
can
be
allocated
towards
public-­‐private
investment
pools
that
can
finance
long-­‐term
infrastructure
needs.
We
should
remember
that
ASEAN's
integration
and
development
is
as
fundamentally
a
social
as
an
economic
or
political
issue.
Around
the
world,
urbanization
is
bringing
never-­‐before-­‐imagined
opportunities
to
more
than
50
million
people
per
year
who
move
into
cities
-­‐-­‐
but
it
has
also
exacerbated
inequality,
fueling
unrest
from
Sao
Paulo
to
Istanbul.
For
inclusive
growth
to
occur,
urbanization
must
be
strategically
conceived
as
a
vehicle
for
employing
-­‐-­‐
and
training
-­‐-­‐
tens
of
millions
of
youth
in
construction,
hospitality,
healthcare,
education,
and
other
services.
Furthermore,
the
large
rural
poor
populations
of
Myanmar,
Cambodia
and
Indonesia
need
the
basic
health
and
education
systems,
as
well
as
more
advanced
agricultural
equipment
that
open
borders
can
bring.
For
decades
ASEAN
has
been
thought
of
as
a
second-­‐tier
regional
body.
Now
it
has
a
chance
to
be
the
crucial
gateway
between
powerful
regions,
a
network
of
sustainable
cities,
and
a
thriving
pillar
of
the
century
of
Asia.
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/14/opinion/asean-­‐dream-­‐khanna/index.html
Discuss
the
following
questions
with
your
partner
1. According
to
the
article,
why
is
cross
border
mobility
important
for
the
new
generation
of
Southeast
Asia?
2. What
might
be
some
of
the
positive
and/or
negative
outcomes
of
the
early
stages
of
cross
border
mobility
throughout
Southeast
Asia?
3. It
is
suggested
by
the
article
that
there
are
still
some
differences
in
many
aspects
within
Southeast
Asia
nations.
What
are
they?
4. What
might
be
some
of
the
practical,
physical,
religious
or
historical
barriers
which
might
need
to
be
overcome
so
that
SEA
nations’
relationship
may
flourish?
5. What
are
some
of
the
challenges
for
Southeast
Asia
to
make
ASEAN’s
dream
come
true?
Please
explain