OPINION | ACADEMIA- Does democracy have a future in ASEAN? Not yet

Mass mobilization: Supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) participate in a campaign rally in Phnom Penh on July 1, 2023, ahead of the upcoming election. Cambodians go to the polls on July 23. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy )

Phar Kim Beng
The Jakarta Post
Kuala Lumpur

While it is often left unsaid, the formation of ASEAN, for better or for worse, was inspired by the success of the European Union (EU). Therefore, the academic and epistemic communities of ASEAN beam with pride when it is considered the “second most successful regional organization”, after the EU.

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This is an accolade that is often celebrated as the achievement of the “ASEAN way”. Somehow, amidst a system of chaos produced by the unruly nature of the first Cold War between the United States and the now defunct Soviet Union between 1967 and 1987, many countries have had faith in the diplomatic modus operandi of ASEAN.

Despite everything that has been said about the EU, the same intellectuals who teach and write about ASEAN should also be mindful of a specific way of thinking that has existed since the formation of the EU. It is the belief of Prof. Timothy Snyder of Princeton University, who has challenged the conventional wisdom of the birth of the EU.

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