ASEAN Regionalism: Cooperation, Values and Institutionalisation

This book examines the key motivations for and challenges to greater regional integration in Southeast Asia. It demonstrates how security and economic concerns -domestic, regional and international - have either contributed to, or detracted from, an increased level of unity and cooperation in ASEAN. It also explores how the patterns of interaction and socialization generated by these issues, together with the nature of domestic political systems, have affected the emergence of common values, norms and interests. It covers the full range of issues confronting ASEAN at present, and the full range of ASEAN countries, and discusses both developments in ASEAN to date and also likely future developments.

Christopher B. Roberts is a Senior Lecturer at the National Security College within the Australian National University. He is also a Visiting Fellow with UNSW at the Australian Defence Force Academy and has previously been employed as an academic at the University of Canberra as well as the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Having lived in Japan and Singapore for over five years, Christopher has extensive field experience in Asia including all the ASEAN nations. Christopher specialises in Southeast Asian security, politics and institutional developments. He has received various awards for his research including the Australian government’s ‘Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award’ in 2005. Between 2005 and 2007 Christopher also undertook two region-wide surveys examining elite and grassroots perceptions concerning regional threat perceptions, levels of trust, political values and notions of kinship and identity. Aside from an earlier book entitled ‘ASEAN’s Myanmar Crisis’ (ISEAS), Christopher has completed more than thirty other journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, commentaries and reports on issues relevant to the politics and security of the Asia-Pacific.