Does ASEAN Matter? A View from Within Quotes

“reservation’s on Timor-Leste’s application were more openly couched in terms of its likely impact on the fast-approaching ASEAN Community, especially the ASEAN Economic Community.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“I drew encouragement from the fact that none of the member states openly expressed opposition. However, I was only too conscious of the fact that it has been the “ASEAN way” not to be confrontational and openly disagree.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“ASEAN’s efforts at a more “rules-based” organization must not come at the expense of that unquantifiable and abstract, yet important, “ASEAN spirit”.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“While the rules and procedures within the European Union may indeed promote greater efficiency in decision-making — in contrast to ASEAN’s laborious “consensus-based” approach — it may risk eroding a sense of common ownership and participation.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“Of course, the idea of an ASEAN economic community had already been broached by Singapore in 2002. Through its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2003, Indonesia sought to widen the notion of ASEAN community by adding the concept of ASEAN political and security community and, subsequently, with notable Philippine urging, the sociocultural community.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“The differentiated timeline between the CLMV and the rest of the ASEAN member states on some of the AEC goals, in particular, simply represents a practical response to the reality of the prevailing economic development gap between the ASEAN 5 and the CLMV, and the need to address it through such specific policies as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI).”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“like any other international organization, a spectrum of views exists within ASEAN on the appropriate role of the secretariat, essentially between those who envision a more minimalist secretariat focused on fulfilling administrative tasks and those who would be comfortable with a secretariat with a more robust substantive capacity; for example, in ensuring member states’ compliance with ASEAN Community targets.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“ASEAN member states must have trust in, and entrust, the various mechanisms that they themselves have created. Otherwise there is a real risk that a perception of redundancy or, worse still, irrelevance would begin to creep in.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“the terms of reference of the AIPR as currently constituted are less ambitious than I had hoped for, including the initial idea to maintain a roster of conflict-resolution experts to whom ASEAN member states could turn to facilitate the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“ASEAN itself became the hub for dialogue and communication between the aforementioned countries. All three countries — China, the Russian Federation and the United States — have had the “comfort level” to allow ASEAN to take the lead in promoting a cooperative framework in the region.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“it can generally be surmised that the other ASEAN founding member states (Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines) largely followed pro-West foreign policy orientations. The situation in the remainder of Southeast Asia, however, was far more complex. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to varying degrees, became battlegrounds for the then prevailing East–West tensions”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“Among the original ASEAN member states, Indonesia has stood out in eschewing formal alliances or defence security agreements, as it is considered to be inconsistent with its “independent and active” (bebas aktif) or “non-aligned” foreign policy.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“a true security community in Southeast Asia could not be attained if ASEAN was to remain limited to its five original founding member states; instead, it required all ten countries of Southeast Asia to fall within the ambit of such an “umbrella”.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“redeployment” (I studiously avoided the word “withdrawal” as it tended to trigger endless debate between the parties) of the troops of both countries; as well as respect for the commitment to the avoidance of conflict (the terms “cessation of conflict” or “ceasefire” proved far too contentious).”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within

“ASEAN must henceforth seize the initiative in addressing emerging issues affecting its member countries — shaping and moulding developments — and not allow such issues to spiral outside its control.”
― Marty Natalegawa, Does ASEAN Matter?: A View from Within