ABSTRACT

The previous chapters have provided a broad sample of both the security challenges and normative limitations faced by ASEAN in the pursuit of its regionalist goals. The analysis has also provided some indication of how these challenges and limitations have been exacerbated by the diversity of political interests and values throughout the region. The extent of the security challenges and problematic relations in the region has, in turn, led some scholars to question various assertions that ASEAN represents some form of a security community. Given these constraints, the first section analyses the institutional outcomes that have occurred as a consequence of ASEAN’s regionalist project. Having outlined these developments, the next section seeks further empirical explanations by utilizing a range of sources including the data from the ‘elite’ and ‘communal’ surveys. Based on an analysis of ASEAN’s regionalist goals in previous chapters, and having provided an analysis of the degree of tangible progress to date in this chapter, the final section seeks further explanatory insights by continuing to analyse the survey data for the purpose of measuring the extent of interaction, knowledge and affinity between the societies of Southeast Asia.