Author: Nirmal Ghosh

Published: March, 2026

In a recent, unapologetically transactional assessment by the United States of its global commitments, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) faces perhaps the most critical test since the 1970s of its relevance, agency and sometimes tenuous cohesion. 

Depending on whom one speaks with, the 11-nation ASEAN grouping is notorious for its benign ineffectiveness — some maintain this is an attribute — and admired for the relative stability it has maintained by papering over tensions underlying its internal diversity and the baggage of history.

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https://globalasia.org/v21no1/cover/caught-between-two-hegemons-southeast-asia-hedges_nirmal-ghosh

The article was published by Global Asia.

The Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies (IRSEA) and Global Asia Forum a Journal of East Asia Foundation. have agreed to enter into an informal agreement on republishing their studies and analysis.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or view of IRSEA.