A pattern appears in Malaysian governance – this means that any solution adopted by the state to enhance its power will remain long after the crisis is over. When overdone, these solutions create their own crisis. Author: Ooi, Kee Beng. Publication: Opinion Asia, 12 Oct 2007. Download
Far less attention has been paid to deficiencies in the foundations for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Although the ASEAN Charter views ASEAN economic integration as the basis for continuing integration in other areas, the draft charter does not support this goal with a sufficient framework. Author: Sim, Edmund. Publication: Opinion Asia, 03 Aug 2007. … Read more
This paper addresses the subject of media control in Malaysia under the Barisan Nasional (BN–National Front) regime, the coalition of ethnically-based political parties that has ruled the country since independence. As Hughes notes in her introduction to this issue, the dominant liberal discourse on democratization often views the mass media in fairly functionalist terms as … Read more
By its very nature, this profit maximization process does not inform us about the overall social and environmental impact of a given project on a society. This can be a great cause of concern because a project, especially a large dam project which is considered economically viable, will not necessarily contribute to the social development … Read more
The Charter is the work of nation states; that ASEAN is being refurbished remains no more than the sum of its parts. If the idealism of the EPG recommendations is not fully reflected in the final document, it is because the drafting is the work of officials who have to be mindful of its acceptability … Read more
As a component of the study project on cross-regional trade agreements (CRTAs), this article explores recent free trade negotiations, first by Singapore, then in more detail by Thailand and Malaysia. The article notes that each government, while remaining committed to the regional trade liberalization processes manifest in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), the Association … Read more
Of the countries affected by the recent economic crisis in East Asia, Malaysia has attracted particular attention. Malaysian policymakers have consistently flouted conventional wisdom about the most appropriate ways of managing the crisis, in particular, and national economies, more generally, in an era characterised by increased international integration, both economic and political. Not only has … Read more
This paper is a discussion and evaluation of ASEAN’s efforts to manage its regional security environment (i.e., to affect the actors and events shaping security in Southeast Asia). The main argument of this paper is that ASEAN’s ability to manage regional security in Southeast Asia has been, and is, limited by two factors: one, the … Read more
By ASEAN’s mid-August 1997 summit, however, euphoria had been dispelled. Instead its members were confronted with a severe and unexpected economic crisis that had brought with it new challenges to ASEAN’s prestige, the strength of its members, their ties with one another, and their capacity for joint action. ASEAN as an organization had little to … Read more
The wave of economic regionalism underway since the mid-late 1980s has been joined by the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which formed the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in January 1993 with the aim of creating a Free Trade Area in the region by the (revised) target date of 2003. This … Read more