Beyond the Ivory Tower: Challenges towards Realizing an ASEAN Community 2015

Abstract

This paper identifies the key challenges of realizing so called ASEAN Community by 2015. Although, the ASEAN Community seems achievable, the paper argues that the realizing the Community faces some serious issues to fix. At the most basic, problems to consolidating ASEAN as a regional community is how to resolve the issue of shared values, the issue of re-evaluating ASEAN’s ‘decision making process’ as ASEAN still utilizes consensus-based and unbinding one, and the issue about relegation of sovereignty and non-interference. Those affect to the paths of ASEAN step to a Community, ASEAN Secretariat Capacity Building, and other ASEAN’s plan of actions. As there have been high political commitments to develop a regional community, consolidating all members’ promise certainly needs for enormous willpower and efforts, specifically to transform such ASEAN’s rhetoric into implementation. Otherwise, most of ASEAN-related achievements may be seen just talk shops.