“A day without ASEAN would look very much like any other day...”

For the vast majority, a day without ASEAN would look very much like any other day. Farmers would tend their crops, factories would continue humming, and elevators would continue shuttling workers up and down towers of glass and steel. Were ASEAN to disappear for a day, its loss would be scarcely noticeable – and therein lies the ultimate testament to its importance to the region.

This is because ASEAN’S work has been wrought over generations, rather than a day, a week, or even a decade. The bloc’s mechanisms of non-binding, non-interventionist multilateral discourse have over the years provided a platform for member states to defuse disagreements without the threat of rigid, formal censure. In this way, the grouping has served as a bastion against war, vouchsafing peace in the region despite deep-seated cultural, territorial and political differences.

But just because our hard-won coexistence cannot be easily undone does not mean it will never happen. ASEAN faces mounting threats to its stability that may grow severe, given time and the opportunity to fester. The interests of fellow member-states are increasingly being weighed against lucrative international investment ties with countries beyond the region. Volatile ideological shifts may furthermore act to ratchet up tensions.

While a day without ASEAN may not have immediate consequences, a decade of ASEAN in decline threatens the stability of all the region. Those of my generation, who have not experienced the crucible of suspicion and anxiety in which ASEAN was forged, may take its member states’ fraternal bonds for granted, and fail to proactively upkeep them. Without a shared commitment to peace among our next generation of leaders, the day without ASEAN may yet come to pass – but it is what comes after that which should most concern us. ag